JUNE 2018 $4.

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Woods-n-Water News
Michigan’s Premier Outdoor Publication

Following The

HERRING
INSANE
BLUEGILLS
COLOSSAL KINGS
PERCH
BAG LIMITS

22-POINT
NONTYPICAL
• Unforeseeable Challenges of Michigan's Deer Herd • Morels with Mi-HUNT
• Blade Baits for SPRING SMALLIES • Lunker Creek Trout • Eastern Gray Squirrels
• Whitetail Tactics For Toms • The Au Sable River Changed the World
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 3
 BIG ELK!
By Tom Campbell

Field Notes...
A
few reminders, actu-
ally we have plenty of
reminders for all outdoor
enthusiasts…hunters,
bear and elk license
application draw period
ends June 1. The DNR is making my
reminders obsolete (but, I’m still going
to do it). They have created a hunting
application reminder system via text
message directly to your cell phone. To
get hunting application reminders via
text message, text “MIDNR HUNT-
APP” to 64468. You'll get a reminder
the day applications go on sale, midway
through the application period and on
the last day they’re available. You'll also
get a text when application results are
posted online.
Another tip for you bear and elk
hunters, you could get two elk or bear
tags in a single year if you applied for
your elk and bear tag as usual (by June
1) and you receive both; you can also
purchase entry (unlimited at $5 each)
for the Pure Michigan Hunt and if you
win the random drawing you’d receive
your second bear and elk license. (Plus
the Pure Hunt winner get a spring and
fall turkey, and antlerless deer and first
pick at a managed waterfowl hunt area
and over $4,000 in blinds, sleds, rifles,
shotguns and more). Sounds impossible,
well it’s not! Jerry Peak of Crystal did
exactly that!
According to the DNR, “Peak
applied for his elk tag as usual, but
also applied for – and won – the Pure
Michigan Hunt. “I was totally shocked
when I found out about drawing a bull
elk tag in addition to my Pure Michigan
Hunt tag,” Peak said. “I knew right
away that I would be transferring my
Pure Michigan Hunt tag to my son so
we could hunt together.” All licenses
are transferable – you can enter yourself
and win, or transfer your licenses to a
loved one.”
Buy applications online at eLicense
or anywhere hunting licenses are sold.
For more information about the Pure
Michigan Hunt, visit www.mi.gov/pmh.
Anglers heading to the U.P. trout
fishing will have portions of nearly 40
Upper Peninsula trout streams with a
10 brook trout daily bag limit. With the
exception of Menominee County, 14
of the U.P.’s 15 counties have at least
one stream included on the 10 Brook
Trout Possession Limit Waters list. The A special trophy for Stacy Sieffert, 21, who took this awesome
new regulation approved last fall added 4x5 Michigan bull elk on December 10, 2017. It was an experi-
a suite of 36 streams, or portions of
streams, where 10 trout is the daily pos- ence and hunt of a lifetime and she would do it all over again
session limit. For streams not on the list, in a heartbeat. She would like to thank her guide Jim Ormsbee
the daily bag limit remains at five. For and everyone from Michigan Gone Wild TV. Stacy said, “This
a complete listing of the streams where wouldn’t have been possible without any of you!”
a 10-trout bag limit is allowed, see the
2018 Michigan Fishing Guide avail- tailed deer begin life this way,” she thing to do is not touch it, leaving
able from DNR offices, where fishing said. In fact, the mother’s placement fawns alone and simply enjoying the
licenses are sold and online at mi.gov/ of the fawn and the fawn’s own experience from a distance. “Leav-
fishing. excellent camouflage are further ing baby animals in the wild en-
Finally, a yearly reminder; leave strengthened by one more natural sures they have the best chance for
baby animals in the wild, par- defense that will help the animal survival,” she said. Only licensed
ticularly fawns. Hannah Schauer, a stay hidden from predators: Fawns wildlife rehabilitators may possess
communications coordinator for the are virtually odorless when they abandoned or injured wildlife. Un-
DNR’s Wildlife Division, said that are young! For all of these reasons, less someone is licensed, it is illegal
while fawns may appear abandoned, Schauer said that if you do come to possess live wild animals, includ-
they rarely are. “All wild white- across a fawn on its own, the best ing deer, in Michigan.n

SEASONS Arctic grayling reintroduction

NOW - 2018 fishing license required
Open All Year – Pike and walleye season on Lower Peninsula
Great Lakes, Lake St. Clair & St. Clair & Detroit Rivers
Open All Year – Salmon and trout season on Great Lakes, St.
Marys River, Lake St. Clair & St. Clair & Detroit Rivers
Open All Year – Catch-and-immediate-release bass season on
all Michigan waters open to fishing
Now-Dec. 31 – Pure Michigan Hunt Application Period
Now-May 31 – Leftover spring wild turkey licenses go on
sale over-the-counter
Now - March 15 – Walleye and pike open in Lower Peninsula
inland waters
Now - June 1 – Elk Hunt Application Period
Now - June 1 – Bear Hunt Application Period
May 15 - March 15 - Walleye and pike open in Upper
Peninsula Great Lakes, inland waters & St. Marys River
May 26 – Dec. 31 – Smallmouth and largemouth bass catch-
and-keep on all waters, including Great Lakes (except Lake
St. Clair and St. Clair and Detroit Rivers.
June 16 – Dec. 31 - Smallmouth and largemouth bass catch-
and-keep on Lake St. Clair & St. Clair & Detroit Rivers
*Consult the Michigan Hunting and Trapping Digest, Fishing Digest, or
other species-specific hunting digests for a more complete list of dates
and regulations regarding each season or hunt period.
MJC MJC
ARCHERY ARCHERY
MACOMB OAKLAND
19744 15 Mile Rd 3001 Rochester Rd
Clinton Twp. 48035 Royal Oak, MI 48073
586-791-4600 248-589-2480
4 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
supported by foundation grant
Michigan’s historic effort to reintroduce
Arctic grayling to the state’s waters will be sup-
ported by a grant of $11,000 from the Petoskey-
Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation to
the Michigan DNR’s Fisheries Division.
Arctic grayling thrived in northern
Michigan’s cold-water streams until the onset of
the 20th century. Fishermen and wildlife enthu-
siasts visited destinations such as the Au Sable
River to see this beautiful fish. But by the 1930s,
three factors contributed to their demise: habitat
destruction from logging, overfishing and com-
petition with introduced trout species. The local
extinction of this wild, native fish was a tragic
loss for Michigan.
“We are honored to receive this grant from
the Community Foundation,” said DNR
Fisheries Chief Jim Dexter. “The grayling rein-
troduction is a tremendous collaborative effort
and there simply is no way we can bring this
iconic fish back to Michigan without the gener-
ous contributions of others.”
“Our donors and review committee are
extremely interested and supportive of this proj-
ect,” said Sarah Ford, community and donor
engagement officer with the foundation. “In fact,
thanks to the generous support of individual
donors who maintain funds with us, we were
able to
award
$1,000 more
than the
$10,000 that
was request-
ed. They felt the project was important to sup-
port a legacy project for our region and
Michigan.”
The DNR Fisheries Division and the Little
River Band of Ottawa Indians lead Michigan’s
Arctic Grayling Initiative. More than 45 organi-
zations are supporting the landmark project. In
addition to the DNR and Little River Band, proj-
ect funders have included the Consumers Energy
Foundation, the Rotary Charities of Traverse
City and a private donor. A total of $418,175 has
been secured for the project, which has an esti-
mated cost of $1.1 million.
Funding will be used to support steps fol-
lowed by the state of Montana, where fisheries
biologists have been working to restore self-sus-
taining populations of Arctic grayling for nearly
30 years. Currently, fisheries biologists in
Michigan, Montana and Alaska are collaborating
on the initiative.
For more information about Michigan’s
Arctic Grayling Initiative, visit migrayling.org.
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 5
 HUNTING
ZZ Turkey
Darryl Quidort page 16
COVER STORY
22-Point Nontypical
Richard P. Smith page 26
The unforeseeable
challenges of Michigan’s
deer herd today
Tom Lounsbury page 30
Whitetail tactics
and turkey success
Adam Lewis page 35
New Hunting Strategies!
Land Management for deer
Ed Spinazzola page 50
Michigan Traditions...
Deer Camp on The Farm
Jake Dykstra page 52
FISHING
INSANE BLUEGILLS
Kenny Darwin page 8
Blade baits and
Spring Smallies
Joe Bauer...page 60
Lunker Creek Trout
Jim Bedford page 12
Transition Time
Finding walleyes
Mark Martin page 20
Speed kills summer ’eyes
Mark Romanack page 22
COVER PHOTOS
Colossal Kings
By Kenny Darwin...page 56
Perch Bag Limits
By Bill Ziegler...page 24
22-Point
By Richard P. Smith...page 26
6 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
OPINIONS
Dear Fish Diary
Man vs. Fish- wasted tax dol-
lars to foot bill in winless battle
Ron St. Germain page 66
Earn your outdoor fun this
summer with volunteering
Drew YoungeDyke page 67
Isle Royale moose die off?
Following the Herring Run Richard P. Smith page 68
Betty Sodders...page 28 Boat Smart...Go Green
Capt. Fred Davis page 69
Fisherman’s Digest... TRAIL CAM PHOTOS
Early angling options page 70
John Bergsma page 40
Sporting Collectibles...
GUNS/AMMO
Between Casts: Early Spinning Rods Black Powder Shooting...
On the river in spring Terry McBurney page 72 A memorable moment lives on
Tom Carney page 42 Dennis Neely page 48
Modern tactics for
structure loving walleyes
OUTDOOR NEWS
Mark Romanack page 44 COs save woman from
70-foot cliff
Trolling Trends page 11
Mark Sak page 54
Consideration given to
The deadly jig and minnow changing Michigan’s yellow
George Rowe page 55 perch limits
Bill Ziegler page 24
Cover Story
COLOSSAL KINGS Spring bird migration
Kenny Darwin page 56 page 80
How to make a fly rod work!
William T. Mangan page 59
PERSPECTIVE The Essential
FEATURE The Au Sable River
CHANGED THE WORLD Six Fly Patterns
Casey Warner-MDNR
Michigan Meanders... page 32 Patrick Bevier...page 38
Old men and fire
Tom Huggler page 18 Eastern gray squirrels
Hunting morels with Mi-HUNT
Jonathan Schechter page 36 Gun Chat...M15 Snubnose
Lee Arten page 74
page 34 Trapping Fox and Coyote
John Chagnon/Asa Lenon Big bore accuracy
Guest Column-Gray Family page 76 in the deer woods
OPENING DAY OF TROUT! Joe Delaney page 78
page 62
JUNE 2018
Woods-n-Water News
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NONTYPICAL P.O. Box 278, Imlay City, MI 48444
• Unforeseeable Challenges of Michigan's Deer Herd • Morels with Mi-HUNT
• Blade Baits for SPRING SMALLIES • Lunker Creek Trout • Eastern Gray Squirrels
• Whitetail Tactics For Toms • The Au Sable River Changed the World
www.woods-n-waternews.com • Like us on facebook Follow us on  www.facebook.com/woodsnwaternews
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 7
 INSANE
BLUEGILLS
T
he word insane describes the biting

By Kenny Darwin
characteristics of bluegills in spring
when they are schooled in skinny
water and furiously slam any pre-
sentation. Soon as your presenta-
tion taps the water surface and cre-
ates a tiny shock wave they turn on
the afterburners and rush to smack the intruder.
Sometimes they gulp and spit out the hook before
you can set the hook while most of the strikes are
brutal, deliberate and fish frequently grab, hold
on and swim with the hook. The fishing action is
the best of the entire season and the heart pound-
ing action will send you back to area lakes, ponds
and reservoirs in search of more. So, if you want
to experience some of Michigan’s most insane
sport fishing take note of the following recom-
mendations.
First, water temperature is the key to success.
Michigan bluegills move to shallow spawning
areas when water temperatures hit around 64
degrees. Nests or spawning redds the size of a
large dinner plate are made by males in water
one to seven feet deep, preferably on a gravel
bar or sand and pea sized stone bottom. Males
make moon-shaped nests by fanning relentlessly
and removing sediment and exposing a shallow
depression on bottom. Commonly called bluegill
beds, these areas attract colonies of spawning
fish and become the hot zone for fishing success.
The trick to limit catches of spring fish hinges on
how well you identify spawning colonies, locate
specific bedding locations and find beds that are
covered with active fish.
Females are attracted to spawning beds
when water temperatures range from 65-70s.
This occurs in southern Michigan in late April
and northern lakes have peak spawning in May
through early June. If cold fronts arrive and push
water temperatures below 65 degrees the spawn The author happily displays a large 10-inch bluegill
will be delayed but a warm front with sunny taken using spider fly and clear adjustable bobber.
warm weather can cause water temperatures to
suddenly rise and gills go on a spawning spree. of fishing fun that is borderline insane. During frequently only grasp the offering in their mouth,
Females charge to beds once eggs are ripe and peak run bluegills can be caught in Michigan as they dash to the outer edge of the bed and spit
ready to deposit. Eggs are scattered on the bed by from shore, bank, boat, pontoon, canoe or kayak it out. It is not unusual for gills to aggressively
females and suitor males fertilize them immedi- from sunrise until dark. The hottest fishing often charge your hook, nip or grab the offering and
ately. Eggs hatch in 3-5 days depending on water occurs during calm sunny weather when the sun’s blow or spit it out away from their bed at light-
temperature and after hatching males remain on rays increase water temperatures and drive fish ning speed.
or near beds for several days to protect young into a feeding/spawning spree. Savvy gill chasers wear polarized sunglasses
from predation. Once gills begin fanning the gravel and make which cut the sun’s glare and allow fishermen to
If you want to experience unbelievable blue- beds they become very territorial and aggres- better see their quarry. At times gills are easy to
gill fishing the trick to success hinges on water sively protect their dish-shaped home turf. They identify because they are busy chasing each other,
temperature. If you arrive at your favorite lake fight off intruders of all kinds, minnows, other making surface ripples and splashing in shallow
and the water is below 63 degrees and fish are gills, crappie, bass, snakes and frogs, anything bays. But wind, rain or cloudy conditions can
not congregated in the shallows you are too early. that enters their spherical domain. If you cast a produce just enough wave action to camouflage
Same holds true for outings after the spawn when fly, spider or surface bait and it dimples the water colonies of gills and polarized sunglasses are a
water temperatures are above 74 degrees and fe- surface over their bed they will charge and slam must.
males have spawned out, moved to deeper water, the intruder. Let it sink and they will follow it Back in the day my family would stalk gills
and only a few residual males are patrolling beds. toward the fanned bed and likely grab the offer- along the banks of the Tittabawassee River, San-
But if you hit the nail on the head and intercept ing before it touches bottom. Sometimes they will ford Lake, Wixom Lake and more. We
gills when they are actively spawning, congre- allow the offering to touch bottom before they
gated in the shallows, you can expect the brand grab the hook. At times they gulp the hook but Insane Bluegills page 10
8 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 9

Insane Bluegills:
from page 8
carried fly rods and cane poles
rigged with pencil bobbers and tiny
single hooks hidden deep in a night-
crawler. I learned that turning soil in
grandma’s chicken coop produced
small red worms that caught panfish
like no other.
With fond memories I recall
spring gilling with Gary Haske from
Midland who tied custom flies that
resembled spiders complete with
black legs that wiggled in water.
Gary would place the tiny offering
on the lake surface over active beds
and give the line a short jerk to cre-
ate a tiny wake with the fly. Wow!
Bed patrolling gills would charge
the offering and smack the spider.
That’s when I learned the deadly
fishing technique of fishing surface
flies.
Today I use a similar strategy
but my fly gear is substituted with a
Zebco closed face model 33 spin-
ning reel. I still use flies but place
a cone-shaped Adjust-A-Bubble
float by Rainbow Plastics on the
line two feet above the offering
to give it enough weight for long
distance casting. I like to use a super
tiny ant size barrel swivel made by
Blackbird tackle below the bobber
and attach a 2 foot leader of 4 lb.
Seaguar fluorocarbon. The bobber is
used for long casts, the barrel swivel
keeps the leader from twisting after
catching hundreds of fish and the
leader material is almost impossible
for fish to see.
Now comes the important part,
which lure should you use? Well
my hottest tactic is to use a style
181 Eagle Claw barbed hook size #8
tipped with a wax worm. In super
shallow water no weight is needed
and the single hook will slowly
make the waxie drift toward bottom.
I lengthen the lead depending on the
water depth holding gills. You sim-
ply cast to the beds, allow the waxie
to work in the current and keep a
close eye on the bobber. If it jerks
backward it is signaling a strike and
it is time to set the hook.
Bluegill medicine includes a selection of small single hooks,
spider flies, brim flies; Adjust A-Bubble floats in various sizes with striped legs
and colors used for long distance casting and to help you
detect strikes; hemostats used to remove hooks, or use a
Your Bobbers Down Dehooker; and a handheld number clicker tiny surface fly
to keep track of your catch.
10 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
I love to cast for big spawning
gills when the sun is high and the
polarized sunglasses allow me to
watch gills turn, charge the waxie
and gulp the bait. Sight fishing
panfish is fantastic fishing fun and
there is never a dull moment. There
is something powerfully addictive
about watching fish rush to your
presentation and inhale the hook.
This strategy is guaranteed to pro-
vide major gillage for those working
the shallows.
Rainbow Plastics makes the
Adjust-A Bobber float that has
surgical tubing through the center.
Put your line through the round tub-
ing and twist the tube in the center
of the bubble to secure your line.
Interior surgical tubing holds line
in place but allows you to adjust for
any leader length. Adjust-a Bubble
comes in two sizes for gills, the mini
3/16 oz. and the 1/4 oz. Some folks
like to use the clear float when fish
are spooky and require long distance
casts. Other anglers prefer a float
that is colored chartreuse or red/
white for easy visibility to detect
strikes in early morning low light,
late evening or rainy weather. The
Adjust-A-Bubble can be used on
fly line, casting or spin casting. For
extreme long distance, the surgical
tubing can be pulled out and water
allowed into the float chamber for
added weight.
Years of chasing gills has taught
me several important lessons. At
times fish can be very spooky,
other times you can place your boat
within flippin’ distance and catch all
you want. When the wind subsides
and the water surface is mirror flat
fish can get very spooky. That’s
when I stay in deeper water and
make long casts to the shallows. The
trick is to fan cast to skinny water
and slowly move parallel to shore
without disturbing target fish in 1-3
feet of water.
If gills are going bonkers near
the surface I replace the single hook
with a spider look-alike fly. When
you use this
tactic you slowly
chug the fly,
make it swim on
the surface and
the wave made
by the float and
fly will attract
fish from below.
Sometimes I
tip the spider
with a waxie
but a couple
years ago I hit
on some custom
tied brim flies
sold on eBay
and black eyes.
They look like a
or bug. In early
Bluegills are prolific throughout Michigan and provide fast paced
fishin fun for kids, friends and family.
morning I use the bright chartreuse
fly with black striped legs. Dur-
ing mid-day I opt for the black
shiny model or original brim deep
brown. I tip the fly with a waxie and
allow the offering to slowly sink
to determine the active bite zone.
Sometimes gills want it touching
the surface, other days they smack
the tiny offering half way to bottom.
Often gills will hold tight to bottom
near weeds and one deadly strategy
is to let the fly sink to bottom using
a 3-5 ft. lead and slowly pull and
stop the offering near weeds, rocks,
stumps, logs or bottom structure.
If gills in your area were on beds
but a cold spell cooled water tem-
perature and spawners disappeared,
work the drop off region close to
beds. Often fish will back off to
6-10 foot depths and reposition not
far from spawning locations. Weath-
er in Michigan is ever changing and
it is not uncommon for fish to move
into the shallows and back out when
cold temperatures cool local waters.
While southern Michigan fish often
are finished spawning in early May
it is not unusual for northern fish to
continue spawning chores through-
out the month of June.
The daily possession limit is
50 bluegills and once you hit that
magic number you must stop fishing
by Michigan law. Even catch and
release fishermen must stop fishing
at 50. I know a guy who continued
fishing and when the DNR boarded
his boat he was several fish over
his limit. Even though his intention
was to release any fish in the live
well over 50 unharmed, the COs
confiscated the extra catch and he
was fined $175 per fish and lost
his fishing privilege for a full year.
With this in mind I recommend you
purchase a simple hand counter to
keep track of your catch. By push-
ing a button every time you keep a
fish you can keep an exact count.
It is against DNR law to upgrade
your catch by releasing smaller fish
unharmed and keeping slabs. This
outdated law holds true for bass,
walleyes, trout, salmon and more.
Just ask the Okemos resident who
was catch and release fishing on the
Saginaw River when two COs wrote
him a ticket for releasing 17 fish un-
harmed. The Saginaw County Judge
eventually let him off the hook but
nailed him $375 for littering. Your
limit is your limit and you cannot
catch more even if you are releasing
fish unharmed. My suggestion is to
use a hand push button counter and
never return to the boat launch with-
out carefully counting your catch,
period.
Bluegills are prolific in Michi-
gan and found in most lakes, ponds,
reservoirs, rivers and streams. They
begin spawning chores at two years
old. Larger females contain more
eggs than smaller fish and a 10-inch
trophy fish produces around 25,000
eggs. Smart fishermen release large
females and allow them to spawn.
Big hens can live from 6-8 years.
Many Michigan lakes are full of
grunt gills mainly because they are
so prolific and some bodies of water
lack solid bass populations or other
predators. Gills dine on insects, zoo-
plankton, small fish, algae, vegeta-
tion and more. Lakes that have good
biomass with freshwater fleas and
abundant zooplankton often produce
large gills. Bluegills are basically
sight feeders.
Bluegills are scrappy fighters
and fun to catch on light tackle.
They are one of the easiest fish to
catch and many beginners cut their
teeth on gills. Kids love catching
them and they provide fun filled
adventure for the whole family.
Fishing from an anchored boat with
crickets, worms, spikes, mousies or
wigglers is very popular.
I suggest you try a run-n-gun
strategy and use a bow mounted
electric motor to position within
casting distance of spawning loca-
tions. Once you have taken a few
fish use the electric motor to stealth-
fully approach new locations. The
idea is to cover new water and find
active schools located in spawning
colonies. It is exciting to silently
sneak up on a large colony of gills
swirling in shallow water. Just the
sight of big adult fish in skinny
water can get your heart pumping.
But the proof of the pudding
is when you can’t make a cast
without fish attacking your
presentation. Many times several
dandy fish will charge your
offering and the fishing action
can be simply insane.n
 COs save woman from 70-foot cliff
Barry County woman clung to tree roots above Lake Superior ice...

M
ichigan Conserva- mother. She did not seek any medi- before she was rescued. Michigan conservation offi-
tion Officers David cal attention. The name of the woman was not cers are fully commissioned state
Miller and Kyle Miller said the woman told him released. peace officers who provide natural
McQueer recently she wanted to go to visit a friend. Miller, who is originally from resources protection, ensure recre-
saved a Baraga While walking, she wanted to go L’Anse was hired to work for the ational safety and protect citizens by
County woman down to the lake. She put her leg Michigan Department of Natural providing general law enforcement
from falling down a cliff to the Lake over a guard rail and moved toward Resources in 1996. McQueer, duties and lifesaving operations in
Superior ice below. the lake. She lost her footing and from Otsego, was hired in July the communities they serve.
The incident began at about 8:35 started falling down the side of the 2017 and is currently working in Learn more about Michigan con-
p.m. Thursday with a call to Central cliff. She slid to a place about half- his probationary period with the servation officers at www.michigan.
Dispatch in Negaunee Township way down the 70-foot embankment department. gov/conservationofficers.n
from the 25-year-old L’Anse woman
saying she was stuck on the edge of
a cliff overlooking Lake Superior.
She told a dispatcher she was hold-
ing on to tree roots and she wasn’t
exactly sure of her location. Miller
and McQueer responded to the
area to assist Michigan State Police
troopers with the search.
Troopers said the woman’s
phone signal was showing her
location to be about 700 feet north
of Haanpaa Road, which is not far
outside the Village of L’Anse, to the
north.
“Just as we passed Hannapaa
road, we were flagged down by an
individual who could hear someone
hollering for help from somewhere
down the cliff,” Miller said. The two
conservation officers located the
woman part way down the face of
the 70-foot cliff. They worked their
way down toward her. McQueer
stayed above the woman while
Miller continued down until he
reached her. Miller held the woman
in place.
“She told me she had Hunting-
ton’s disease, and had very little-to-
no strength in her arms and legs,”
Miller said. “She had been holding
on to tree roots to keep her from
falling the rest of the way down the
cliff and onto the ice below.”
Huntington’s disease is a rare
hereditary condition in which the
brain’s nerve cells break down grad-
ually, affecting physical movements,
cognitive abilities and emotions.
Miller asked McQueer to go
back to the vehicle and get a tow
strap or a rope. He returned with a
tow strap and tied it to a tree, tossing
the other end down to Miller.
The woman held onto the strap
while Miller lifted her to a safer
place on the cliff face.
Officers from other departments
ROSY BROTHERS INC.
had begun arriving at the scene, 5727 DRYDEN ROAD
including a state police trooper and
officers from the Keweenaw Bay In- DRYDEN, Michigan 48428
dian Community and Baraga police
departments.
McQueer and a Keweenaw Bay
810-796-3770
officer tied the tow strap around the
woman.
“Once she was secure, all of the
officers pulled her to safety,” Miller
said.
The woman was taken to her
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 11

W
hen anglers think about
catching lunker stream
resident browns and brook
trout they immediately
conjure up a humid night
in late June on a good sized
stream with a good population of Hexagenia
mayflies. Or at least a sizable stream after a rain
has raised its level and colored up the flow with a
good supply of crawlers in their bait container. It
would seem that small streams and creeks would
be only the home to small browns and brookies.
However, this is definitely not the case. Trout can
grow just as large in nutrient rich creeks as they
can in large rivers if they have enough cover.
Food from the bank augments the aquatic insects
and other invertebrates produced in the stream.
While cover and food are obviously very
important to the survival and growth of all trout,
good overhead protection is absolutely crucial to
small stream trout. A solid roof over their head is
almost always preferred over water depth, prob-
ably because most of the time the runs and holes
in clear creeks are not deep enough to hide the
browns and brookies. A riffled surface will help
hide a trout in a hole but they generally prefer to
be under a log or log jam, an undercut bank, or
overhanging vegetation. Because predatory birds
like herons and kingfishers are the trout’s main
enemies they try not to be visible from above. Of
course they will expose themselves when feeding
but most of the time you are better off casting to
12 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
areas where you couldn’t see the trout if it was
present.
To be successful catching large trout in a
small creek you must be sneaky. Not ever be-
traying your presence to the trout is the most
important key to consistently catching them.
This is best accomplished by quietly wading in
an upstream direction. The fish are always facing
into the flow and can see in all directions except
for directly behind. If you fish downstream you
quickly alert the trout visually and any sound
you make wading is transmitted further with the
current. In most creeks some sand or silt will join
your wake in preceding you in a downstream di-
rection. Some anglers like to fish creeks from the
bank but this makes you even more visible and
the vibrations from your footfalls are especially
alarming to trout.
So keep a low profile and make the longest
casts possible using polarized sunglasses to see
trout holding cover and see if a brown comes out
to inspect your offering. Casting over logs and
other cover pays dividends even if you are likely
to hang up on the retrieve. Many times the trout
will intercept it first and if you wait until you get
up to the log the trout may detect your presence
and not hit.
Casting small spinners and spoons, jigs, and
crankbaits in the 1/16 to 1/8 ounce size range is
an excellent way to draw browns and brookies
out of their dark lairs. Accurate casting is im-
portant when fishing lures for trout even though
By Jim Bedford
they will draw trout out of cover. In small brushy
streams and creeks your challenge is often just
hitting the water because the trout range the
whole small pool. Where there is more room it is
still best to make sure your first cast lands in the
stream and then try to get closer to the cover with
subsequent casts. That is, you don’t want to spoil
the hole by getting hung up trying to get too close
to the overhanging bush or undercut bank on the
first cast.
While lures are designed to represent food,
their flash and vibration also appeal to the trout’s
curiosity. For this reason it pays to cover lots
of water so that as many trout as possible will
see your spinner or plug. Fishing from bridge
to bridge or from one access site to another also
allows you to show your lure to fish that see
fewer anglers. Try to land your lure upstream of
the suspected lie so the retrieve will bring it past
the waiting brown or brook trout. Don’t fret if
this is not always possible though, as the plop in
the water next to a trout’s hideout can be like the
hopper, beetle, or other terrestrial food item that
triggers an immediate strike.
In addition to presenting the lure in the
direction that trout normally look for food, up-
stream casts followed by downstream retrieves
are helpful in keeping your lure near the bottom.
Even so, cross stream casts, especially in front of
log jams or brush piles, are also great trout catch-
ers when you can sneak up on the brown’s lair.
Live bait is one of the most effective ways to
catch trout in small streams. While
some anglers, myself included,
don’t like messing with bait, there is
no doubt that the real thing accounts
for lots of brookies and browns each
season. Earthworms rate as a top
choice but salmon eggs, minnows,
crayfish, and large aquatic insect
nymphs are all excellent creek trout
catchers. A bronzed fine wire hook
is unlikely to be detected by the
feeding trout and it will keep the
bait lively and natural.
In almost all situations the bait
should be cast upstream and allowed
to drift with the current at the same
speed or slightly slower. While it is
important to keep your bait fairly
close to the bottom, try to use as
little weight as possible. You want
your bait to be near the bottom but
not on the bottom where it gets hung
up a lot. It is better to err on the high
side because the trout are usually
looking forward and up. Too much
weight also causes unnatural drifts.
In many creeks it is possible to
avoid the use split shot completely,
especially when fishing with crawl-
ers. By anticipating the holding spot
and casting well upstream your bait
will be at eye level when it reaches
the trout. If the bottom of the stream
is quite snaggy, take a page out of
the steelheader’s book and use a
float to suspend your bait just above
the substrate.
Using the lightest line possible
that you can and still land the larger
trout will help make the bait drift
as naturally as possible. Reel in the
slack as your bait drifts toward you
and keep your rod tip high. This
keeps some of the line out of the
water and makes it easier to detect
strikes. The high rod also decreases
the amount of belly in your line
helping you get the hook set.
Pick a fine diameter, premium
monofilament so that you can maxi-
mize the strength yet have an almost
invisible connection to your rod. I
like this type of line for lure fishing
too. No matter what your terminal
tackle is, constantly check your knot
strength and the line near the hook

Jeff Samsel shows off a dandy creek brown.

or lure for abrasions. Clipping off
the last foot or two and retying often
is a good idea as it keeps your line
at maximum strength. This com-
pensates for using a non-abrasion
resistant line and allows you to use
stronger six or eight pound test in-
stead of a thick four pound test line
with high abrasion resistance.
Your spinning tackle can also
be used to cast flies. Some weighted
nymphs and streamers can actually
be cast with very light line and a
bubble can be used to present dry
flies and unweighted nymphs. Tie
the bubble on to the end of the line
and the fly or flies off of droppers.
This allows the flies to precede
the bubble when you cast the rig
upstream.
Many creeks also have enough
room for conventional fly casting.
Even in meadow sections you will
still almost always have to cast
straight up or down stream to allow
for a back cast. The usual case,
though, is that there will be little
room for a back cast and mastering
the roll cast is a key to successful
creek fly fishing.
The author’s daughter, Terri Bedford, releasing a creek brown. Even though most trout creeks
have good aquatic insect popula-
tions it pays to always be ready
with the ants, hoppers, and beetles
if there is not a hatch. Terrestrial
imitations along with streamers that
imitate local baitfish and crayfish
are always a good idea when you
are exploring a new creek and
don’t know what the trout are
feeding on.
While you can probably ne-
gotiate the majority of the water in
small streams wearing hip boots you
will be much better off donning the
waders instead. There will always
be a few places that require waders
and these deep stretches are also
likely to hold many trout. In addi-
tion, there will be many spots where
you want to be on your knees when
making your presentation to avoid
spooking the trout.
Early in the season or after
significant rain events small streams
are often a better choice than large
rivers for several reasons. They
clear quickly after spring rains and
become fishable long before riv-
ers get in shape. Creeks also warm
faster when we have a cold spring
night.n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 13
 Randy’s Hunting Center
Ruger Retailer of the Year!
Ruger Days: May 21 - June 2
Come Join Us for Our ‘Ruger Dealer of the Year’ CELEBRATION
May 24 • 5pm • Franklin Inn, Bad Axe

5000 RUGERS IN STOCK

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over 25 variations! available! or 45! several variations! 6.5 Creedmore! over 70 models
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collectible exclusive models available! with new popular AR magazines

OVER 2000 450 BUSHMASTERS ON HAND WITH OVER 140 OPTIONS

Randy’s Hunting Center Exclusive
INCLUDING CAMO STOCKS, LAMINATED STOCKS AND WALNUT STOCKS!
Also factory authorized LOWER PRICING ON Leupold Representative on hand Thursday and Friday
RugerHUNTING
RANDY’S No. 1 .450 CENTER Bushmaster $1,399 to demonstrate all the Leupold models with
the 450 Bushmaster Dials INCLUDED
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OVER 3,500 450 BUSHMASTERS
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NEW Gunsite Scout Rifle in .450 Bushmaster with a Walnut stock for $879.95!
Also IN STOCK the NEW Ruger No.
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Hundreds of stock variations 721 E. Huron Ave. and in stock NOW!
available
• Camo • Realtree • Bad KryptekAxe, •MI 48413
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• Laminate stocks (989) 269-GUNS
in several (4867)
color variations and thumbhole options
ALL CAMO stocks, all variations +$100 Leupold VX3i 3.5-10x40 w/ 300 yard dial +$399
ALL LAMINATES and www.randyhuntingcenter.com
WALNUT Stocks +$200 Leupold rings, installed and bore sighted +$20
Leupold MK AR 3-9x40 w/400 yard dial +$299 Mag-Na-Port Brake (16” threaded barrels) +$150
Over 800 Leupold scopes
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barrels)at Randy’s Hunting Center.
+$229
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14 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS

Randy’s Hunting Center

 World Premiere “Only Available in Bad Axe, Michigan”
Rugar “Go Wild” Camo 22” 450 Bushmaster - $519.99
Ruger Security 9’s - $299.99
Ruger PC 9 Carbine - $499.99
Ruger EC9S Compact 9mm - $229.99
Many other exclusive models available!
Randy’s Hunting Center
Ruger Retailer of the Year
With over 48,000 federal firearms licensed
dealers in the United States, this honor of
Retailer of the year just shows how hard
work and customer service pays off no matter
the size of the store. To celebrate this
award Randy’s Hunting Center will be
having an event of a lifetime.
Thursday May 24th at the Franklin Inn,
160 E. Huron Ave. Bad Axe
Tickets for this event are only $20 each and
strictly limited to the first 500 attendees
Your ticket also enters you in many door
prizes and gun drawings provided by the
Friends of the NRA Thumb chapter.
Doors open at 5 PM for a wonderful full
buffet meal with all the trimming and
desserts, coffee and soft drinks, and a cash bar
Program starts at 7 PM with Director of
Special Products at Ruger, Bruce Dionne and
Ruger Senior Vice President of Operations Tom
Sullivan announcing the newest firearms and
MANY EXCLUSIVE new guns from
Ruger that WILL ONLY BE
AVAILABLE to attendees of this event.
Following the Ruger presentation, Randy is honored to
introduce guest speaker Richard A. Lipsey.
Richard Lipsey was aide to Maj. Gen. Philip C. Wehle ,
the commander of the military district of Washington, D.C. in
1963. The pair would be called upon to escort any high ranking
dignitary to meet then president Kennedy.
Mr. Lipsey had served as sometimes social aide to Kennedy,
had shaken his hand numerous times after briefing Kennedy on
various visitors, and the pair had developed a friendship. “He was
a hell of a guy. A very smart man,” Lipsey said.
As such Mr. Lipsey had a front row seat to a tumultuous time,
including Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic march just months
before the Kennedy assisination.
After the news of the assassination of JFK, Maj. Gen. Wehle
and Lieutenant Lipsey began preparing for the arrival of the body
of the President. When Kennedy’s body arrived back in D.C.
around 6:30 p.m., he accompanied Wehle and Jackie Kennedy to
Bethesda Naval Hospital. Wehle and a stoic Jackie Kennedy went
upstairs to begin the gargantuan task of planning a presidential
funeral.
“Nobody touches that body except the doctors, and no
unauthorized person enters this room,” Lipsey remembered
Wehle saying. Lipsey helped the technicians when he was asked,
helping to transfer Kennedy’s body to the autopsy table, wiping
it off and watching the calm, slow process of photographing the
entry and exit points of the bullets, followed by over three hours
of the autopsy.
Mr. Lipsey estimates he has told his story about a dozen times,
but only to select groups, He won’t go on national TV, though he
has been asked often.
With nearly 30 years of friendship and business with Randy’s
Hunting Center, Richard has agreed to share his story with some
of Randy’s Hunting Center’s friends and Ruger enthusiast that
attend this once in a lifetime program.
Richard A. Lipsey is a graduate of LSU in addition to Harvard
business school of owner/president management. After two
years service in the Army in
Washington as an Aide to a
General and working closely
with President John F Kennedy,
he returned to Baton Rouge. He
founded Lipsey’s in 1977, one
of the nation’s largest sporting
goods distributors and Rugers
largest and proudest distributor
of firearms. Lipsey’s is listed
as a Louisiana Business Report
Top 100 company with over
100 employees. In the late
1990’s Mr. Lipsey purchased
Haspel, a high-end line of
tailored men’s clothing, and
is the founder and partner in
Lipsey Communications LLC
, a chain of Sprint wireless
phone stores that stretches from
Arizona to North Carolina.
Among his numerous awards is the Outstanding Citizen
of the Year and Man of the Year in many state and national
organizations. Mr. Lipsey’s has helped raise untold millions of
dollars for a long list of non profits that also include LSU Tiger
Athletic Foundation, of which he founded along with being one
of LSU largest contributors. The list goes on and on, and it speaks
to a life of service. These days, Mr. Lipsey spends most of his
time on charitable endeavors. I believe in giving back,” he says.
“It’s just the way we’ve always lived. I believe it’s important to
model that behavior for young people … to teach them about
working hard and giving back.”
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 15
 ZZ
Turkey
L
ate evening on the night
before the opening day
of Michigan’s ZZ turkey
season, I spotted a large
group of wild turkeys
walking toward a wood-
lot which was out in the center of
a mile section of farmland. With
binoculars, I could see half a dozen
toms in the group. I knew where I’d
be set up at daylight the next morn-
ing!
In recent years there
have been some nice sized
flocks of turkeys hang-
ing around my home in
central Michigan. I enjoy
trying to keep an eye on
them as they wander from
woodlot to woodlot in this
agricultural area. Although
they can’t exactly be “pat-
terned,” when a
flock is headed By Darryl Quidort
y Sprin
Turke
Turkey Mount Experts
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16 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
to the woods just before dark it’s
a pretty good bet that they will be
roosted there for the night.
At first light on opening morn-
ing I was sitting in a fencerow of
trees just across a small open field
from the woods. This was an “all
or nothing” sort of deal. If the birds
were roosted in that ten acre woods,
I had a chance. If they had traveled
on through, they could be roosted
a mile away in a different woods.
I waited silently, with my
flintlock smoothbore across
my knees and hands in my
pockets to keep warm.
A person tends to limit
himself in some way to
keep the hunting experience
challenging, interesting,
exciting, and fun through-
out a lifetime. As they
gain experience,
some people
The author, Darryl Quidor t, hoists a heavy gobbler over his shoul-
der and star ts home with his flintlock fowler.
g
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evolve to hunting only for bucks
with a certain size of antlers. Others
may choose to limit themselves to
bowhunting only. I once knew a
man who said he “didn’t have time
to hunt anything he couldn’t hunt
with his dogs.” Raising and training
hunting dogs was more important
to him than any game taken. For
the past few years I have chosen to
hunt wild turkeys only with flintlock
firearms that I have built myself. I
feel that flintlocks are part of our
American heritage and I use them
for the reasons just listed; challeng-
ing, interesting, exciting, and fun.
That morning, before daylight,
I had carefully loaded my 20 gauge
flintlock fowler with 75 grains of
Goes 2FG black powder, a couple of
tight fitting over powder wads, and
an ounce and a half of #5 lead shot
held in place by an over shot card.
With a pinch of fine, 4FG black
powder in the pan of the lock and a
sharp flint in the cock, I felt confi-
dent of a quick and certain ignition.
As the clear sky began to lighten
up I watched the world around me
wake up. Birds began to flutter and
sing their spring music from the
bushes near me. A red tailed hawk
soared by close overhead with his
wings outspread. By cupping my
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ears, I could actually hear the cool
morning air feathering through his
primaries. Then a robin came out of
nowhere, landed in the field in front
of me, and immediately wrestled
a worm out of the ground. “How
did he (or she?) know to land right
there, right then?” I wondered. “Was
that worm spotted from afar?” I was
enjoying myself and hadn’t even
heard a turkey yet.
A blue jay squawked a couple of
times over in the woods somewhere
and a tom turkey boomed out the
first gobble of the morning. Another
tom cut loose with an answering
gobble. Then several toms began
talking all at once, each one trying
to out gobble all the others.
“Guess the gang’s all here!” I
smiled.
I’m not the best turkey caller
in the world, so I planned to wait
until they were on the ground before
making any attempt at calling them.
Those toms talked to each other for
a good ten minutes. I’ve never heard
such steady, continuous gobbling
before. Then all went quiet. “Must
have all flown down,” I thought.
I’d been sucking on a mouth
call waiting for this opportunity. A
clear series of hen yelps brought
an immediate chorus of gobbling
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from within the woods. After only
a few more quiet yelps from my
call I could see several white heads
bobbing through the woods com-
ing toward me. Four mature toms
cleared the woods and walked out
into the open field 150 yards from
me. And… that’s where they hung
up. Every time I called they strutted,
gobbled, and rubber necked look-
ing for a hen, but didn’t come any
closer. The stand-off continued until
three more big toms came out to
join them. Now I had seven big ma-
ture tom turkeys in front of me, all
strutting at once and slowly advanc-
ing across the field toward me. I’ve
never seen anything so thrilling.
I thought I was probably calling
too much, but when I stopped yelp-
ing, they stopped coming. So, I kept
calling steadily and they kept com-
ing slowly across the field until the
nearest ones were within 40 yards.
All I needed was a little patience to
pull this off.
Suddenly, several hens came
out of nowhere and ran across the
field yelping and cutting like crazy!
Three of the gobblers turned and
ran to head them off. What looked
like a sure thing a few seconds ago
was quickly falling apart. The four
closer birds stretched their necks to
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watch the hen activity. Then three
of them turned and started moving
away. Only one was left and he was
turning to leave.
I had built my flintlock smooth-
bore on a Colerain “Turkey Choke”
barrel. This barrel was made to
hold a tight pattern of shot. So tight
in fact that I put sights on the gun
when I built it. It could properly be
called a smooth rifle. After many,
many shots patterned on paper,
while working up the best loading
for the gun, I was confident of a
killing pattern for a head shot at that
distance.
Flint struck steel. Sparks flew.
KA-BOOM! A low wall of black
powder smoke rolled out toward
where the big gobbler was flopping
his last. Success!
Money can’t buy the feeling of
satisfaction from hunting with a gun
that you have invested many hours
of labor in carefully hand craft-
ing. The thrill of taking game with
your own custom gun also feeds
the outdoorsman’s basic instinct of
self-sufficiency. There is nothing
quite like hoisting a heavy gobbler
over your shoulder, picking up your
flintlock fowler, and starting home
on a cool, spring morning with the
rising sun lighting your way.n
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 17
 Michigan Meanders...

Old men
and fire
E
very three to five years,
I enlist the help of
friends and neighbors
to help burn my four-
acre grass field. Such
periodic burning, in late
winter or early spring, helps stop
the invasion of woody plants into
the field and invigorates the
switchgrass and wildflow-
ers I planted there nearly 20
years ago.
Armed with broom
rakes, five of us white
beards gathered on a Satur-
day morning in late March.
Little wind was expected,
and the humidity would rise
to 60 percent. We
had to wait a cou- By Tom Huggler
ple hours though,
for the sun to warm the frost-stiff-
ened dead grass and weeds. When
the temperature finally rose to the
mid-40s, we gathered at one end of
the field to create a backburn that
would serve as a firebreak for the
main blaze. We did this by burning
a strip about 10 feet wide into the
slight breeze that had developed.
Once the back burn was com-
plete, we moved to the
head of the field and set
it ablaze. The breeze was
only three or four mph, and
the flames advanced across
it steadily and slowly. It
was a classic prescribed
burn, done safely and suc-
cessfully.
I now know the right
procedure because
I did it all wrong
in the past. A few
years ago I returned home early
one April evening and impulsively
Safety is the number one concern when it comes to a prescribed burn.
With detailed planning the author and friends burnt this small field.
decided to torch the field myself. age was to my reputation as a solid,
Big mistake! Although the air was considerate citizen.
calm, the blaze that raced across the Recounting that foolhardy
plot produced flames 10 feet high experience, I still feel the red heat
and created its own wind. The night of embarrassment creep into my
sky turned bright orange and cars face. Now, I get permission from the
stopped along the highway to watch fire department before lighting any
the spectacle. fires on my property, including the
Someone rightly called the local simple burning of brush. I inform
fire department. Volunteers arrived the neighbors beforehand, and I re-
on a tanker truck to extinguish the cruit lots of help. We make sure the
blaze before it could jump to the burn is over and done by nightfall.
surrounding woods. As you might In addition to these safeguards,
expect, I received a royal chewing anyone planning a prescribed burn
out from the fire chief and consid- should have a clear objective. For
ered myself lucky. The only dam- example, here is what a planned fire

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18 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
can do: As I learned the hard way, safety
• Kill invasive woody plants comes first and that starts with the
• Remove duff—the build-up of weather. The most successful burns
dead grass and other vegetation occur when temperatures are be-
• Promote regrowth of both tween 40 and 60 degrees, humidity
warm- and cool-season plants, in- falls between 50 and 70 percent, and
cluding wildflowers wind speed is steady between three
• Reduce or set back noxious and seven miles per hour.
weeds The cool thing about prescribed
• Improve habitat for up to 150 burning is how fast the land re-
species of wildlife sponds. In a few weeks green
Besides helping maintain fields growth takes over. Soon after the
of wildflowers and native grasses wildlife food chain moves in. I’ve
such as Indiangrass, bluestem and learned that through experience,
switchgrass, prescribed burning can too.n
also invigorate cattail stands, main- The control burned field one month later. Tom Huggler photos
tain forest openings, and improve
oak hardwood stands by killing off
maple, basswood and other less-tol-
erant types of trees. Burning is also
more cost-effective than other treat-
ments such as bulldozing, cutting or
using chemicals.
Prescribed burning is not a new
land management tool. Supposedly
the plains Indians deliberately set
afire the prairie to produce better
grass for their ponies. For many
years owners of southern quail
plantations have used fire to hold
back undergrowth beneath tower-
ing canopies of pine. The practice
works. On a recent trip to Tall
Timbers Research Station near
Tallahassee, I walked through burn
areas still smoldering while listening
to singing bobwhite males looking
for mates.
There are many things to con-
sider when planning a prescribed
burn. For example, did you know
that fire moves faster uphill than
on a level surface? For this reason
slope of the burn area must be taken
into account.
It’s possible your local fire
department might be willing to burn
your field as a training exercise. It
certainly doesn’t hurt to ask. At the
very least, someone from the depart-
ment might be willing to look over
your plan and advise accordingly.
For example, do you have a fire-
break, an area that will contain the
fire within its boundaries?
A plowed or disked strip, reach-
ing down to mineral soil, is the
most common way to establish a
firebreak. Sometimes a mowed path
or walking trail will suffice, but
wider (to 20 feet) is always better.
After the burn, consider planting the
firebreak to grasses and clovers to
provide food cover for wildlife.
The timing of a burn determines
the plants which will be benefited
and controlled, the impact on wild-
life species, and safety. Most burns
are conducted mid to late spring or
in the fall. Burning to favor desired
grasses should take place just as
they are starting to green up, and
the soil surface is damp. Generally a
late spring burn will control woody
vegetation and cool-season grasses
better than an early spring burn but
is not as beneficial to wildflowers.
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 19
I
t is mid-summer and a
time of change. Walleyes
are on the move. Their
transition from spring
locations to early summer
and now the heart of sum-
mer haunts invokes questions: Are
the fish in deep water or are they
still in the shallows? Perhaps they
are somewhere in-between? How do
I find them? What will they eat?
Technically, walleye can be
found in all portions of the water
column right now. The majority,
however, have already moved into
the waters they’ll occupy the rest of
the summer.
Overall, walleye are easy pick-
in’s this time of year compared to
other times. The major bug hatches
have been over for some time and
the fish are getting hungry again;
they’ve relocated into their summer
residence for one reason: to eat.
But just because both the weath-
er and bite are hot doesn’t mean it’s
going to be limit catches for every-
one. A perfect presentation is still a
must, no matter the technique used.
And the methods I employ depend
on where in the water column I find
the fish.
Hot Weather Habitation
Overall, I’m targeting walleyes
in main-lake basins by midsummer.
The fish have moved to deep-water
locations during the warm-weather
periods because their prey has
migrated here from the shallows,
which are now too warm water.
But walleyes have the highest
temperature tolerance range of any
freshwater fish. This means many
can be found bellied up to bottom
in the cold, deep water, while at the
same time some will be found high
in the water column, in the warmer
water above the thermocline. I
can see where the walleyes are by
watching my sonar.
The first thing I do is scan the
depths with my Lowrance HDS Car-
bon 12—coupled with an SD card
filled with Navionics mapping in the
unit’s card reader—paying special
attention to areas nearest points,
underwater humps and over muddy-
bottom flats. A high-quality sonar
gives up the location of fish, as well
as any bait, and even if I don’t spot
fish on the Lowrance’s screen, I’ll
fish in the same depths I see forage
as more likely there will be walleyes
in the same realm.
Depending on the waterway,
the forage this time of year consists
mainly of shad, shiners, chubs,
gobies or young-of-the-year fishes
such as perch. Like walleyes, these
baitfishes can be found near bottom,
high in the water column, and all
points in-between.
Slow and Low
If I see the fish bellied up to
20 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
Transition Time
Finding walleye that have transitioned into
summer haunts...By Mark Martin
bottom it usually means they are
lethargic due to foul weather or
funky moon phase. This is when I’ll
fish slow, yet cover as much area as
possible by using bottom-bouncers
and crawler harnesses. These rigs
have the flash and vibration needed
to draw attention and the smell and
taste of the live bait seals the deal.
Retaining speeds of .8 to 1.2
MPH with my bow-mounted electric
trolling motor, I’ll deploy a 2-ounce
Northland Rock-Runner bouncer
and Baitfish Spinner Harness from
the bow of my Lund, while I have
my partner use a 1-1/2-ounce Rock-
Runner and similar crawler harness
from the stern. By using a heavier
sinker up front and lighter one in the
back keeps the rigs from tangling
up.
And I don’t drag the weight; I
fish it at bottom but not on it. To
test, while the boat’s at the speed I
want to fish, I drop my rod tip back
enough to allow the bottom-bouncer
to just tap bottom, then bring it
back forward so that it rides up off
bottom. If bottom is not felt when
doing this, I let out just enough line
to get it near the lake floor. If the
sinker’s dragging, I reel it in just
enough so that it’s not bouncing any
more.
If the fish are up off bottom,
I’ll use the same weight bottom-
bouncers; however, use a Northland
Baitfish Float’N Spin, which has a
large foam float to keep the crawler
up and off bottom and into the strike
zone, or, their new Butterfly Blade
Harness. The Butterfly Blade works
wonders in rivers, too.
If perch are being pesky and
ripping the tails off my live crawl-
ers, I’ll switch the live bait out to
a 6-inch Berkley PowerBait Power
Nightcrawler to nip the bite-offs in
the bud. And the walleyes love ’em
just as much as the real thing.
Bottom-bouncer techniques
work best with medium-action rods
with a soft tip, and reels that bal-
ance well when in my hand; I prefer
Fenwick’s 7-foot Elite Tech Walleye
Casting rod coupled with an ABU
Garcia Revo S reel spooled with
10-pound-test Berkley FireLine.
On the other hand, if these fish
suspended off bottom want some-
thing offered at a faster pace, I’ll
troll Rapala crankbaits at 1.2 to 2
MPH. To get a lure down near bot-
tom (making sure not to allow it to
continuously bounce on bottom), I’ll
use the same bottom-bouncers I was
with the crawler harnesses. But I’ve
been known to tie a Church Tackle
K-1 In-Line Bead Weight about 6
feet ahead of the lure. These come
in 5/8-ounce sizes and I can add
more if necessary.
High and Mighty
Often, I’ll see bait high in the
water column over deep water, but
not fish. This means the fish are
also high in the column and feeding
on the bait, however, spooking out
from under my boat and out of my
sonar’s the transducer range.
Using Church Tackle’s in-line
planer boards and Stern Planers is a
must in this situation. Not only do
they allow me to use multiple lines
without fear of tangling, but the
planer boards get my offering out
away from the path of my Lund and
to the fish that may have spooked
out to the side, while the Stern Plan-
ers keep the line directly behind my
boat from tangling, as well allow
me to control the depth at which my
lures are running.
If the walleyes are preferring a
slow presentation, I’ll pull the same
Northland Baitfish Spinner harness,
as well their ’s Mr. Walleye Willow
Crawler Hauler, either with a live
night crawler or Berkley PowerBait
Nightcrawler, at .8 to 1.5 MPH,
with a Church Tackle K-1 In-Line
Bead Weight 6 feet ahead of the
spinner. The willow leaf blades of
the Crawler Hauler have the least
amount of water resistance of all
spinner blades and are a good choice
when fish are deeper.
If the slow troll’s not produc-
ing, I’ll then switch over to Rapala
crankbaits and again troll at 1.2 to
2 MPH. Rapala’s Shad Dancer is an
overlooked series of crankbaits for
walleyes, as well their new suspend-
ing RipStop baits.
Boiled Down
In the end, finding walleye
that have transitioned into summer
haunts boils down to searching for
fish or bait in main-lake basins, and
getting a spinner or crankbait into
the strike zone. Pay attention to
your speed, especially once a fish
has been caught, and recreate the
depth, lure and pace. Once the pat-
tern has been discovered, you’ll be
on your way to a live well full of
walleye.
Mark Martin is a professional
tournament angler and instructor
with the Fishing/Vacation Schools
(fishingvacationschool.com). Check
out his personal website for more
information, as well, at markmar-
tins.net.n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 21
Speed kills summer ’eyes
F
or the most part Great
Lakes walleye trollers
have two speeds, slow
and slower! For much of
the year it takes a slow
trolling presentation to

trigger lethargic walleye into biting.
Come June, July and August
slow is not always the best way to
go. In fact, kicking it in gear and
moving at the top range of popu-
lar trolling speeds is the fast track
to walleye fishing success. Two
critically important lure groups do a
wonderful job when called upon to
troll at faster speeds.
Crankbaits
The beauty of fishing with
crankbaits is that many of these
lures function well at a wide range
of trolling speeds. Many of the
crankbaits popular among walleye
fishermen in the spring and fall are
also good choices for summertime
trolling. The Reef Runner 800,
Bandit 5/8 Walleye, Yo-Zuri Deep
Crystal Minnow, Storm Deep Jr.
ThunderStick and Berkley Flicker
Minnow series are all good choices
for targeting walleye spring, fall and
summer.
Other great baits to add to this
list look and wiggle more like bass
baits than walleye baits. No
worries because in warm
water walleye love high ac-
tion lures. Among the many
high action baits to pick
from are classics like the
3/8 ounce Storm Rattle Tot,
Salmo No. 6 Hornet and
Storm 3/8 ounce Wiggle
Wart. Newcomers that an-
By Mark Romanack
glers will want
to give a try
Trolling crankbaits at faster speeds (2.5 to 3.0 MPH) is one of the
author’s favorite ways of not only covering water, but also catching
aggressive summer time walleye.
22 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
High action baits like the Yakima Mag Lip are good choices for summer time walleye trolling chores.
Other high action lures the author uses often include the Storm Rattle Tot 3/8 ounce, 3/8 ounce Wiggle
War t and Brad’s Wiggler. Mark Romanack photos
include the 3.5 Mag Lip by Yakima
and the Brad’s Wiggler.
To get the most from
these high action crank-
baits, anglers are obliged to
fish them a lot faster than
most other crankbaits. A
trolling speed of 2.0 MPH
would be considered slow
as most of these higher
action lures
produce best
when fished
2.5 to 3.0 MPH!
Spoons
The second category of wall-
eye lures that perform very well
in warm water are trolling spoons.
Tackle shop shelves are filled with
trolling spoons, but the majority are
larger models intended for trout and
salmon trolling. Spoons designed
for walleye trolling are both shorter
and also thinner than the typical
salmon spoon.
The Wolverine Tackle Jr. Streak
is a spoon that was made with one
purpose in mind... to catch Great
Lakes walleye. The same could be
said for another Michigan manufac-
tured spoon the Michigan Stinger
“Scorpion.” Because these spoons
do not have a dive profile of their
own, Jr. Streaks and Scorpions are
most commonly fished in combina-
tion with small divers such as the
Luhr Jensen Jet Diver, the Big Jon
Mini Disk and the Off Shore Tackle
No. 2 Tadpole Diver.
These popular divers can be
used to easily reach the most com-
mon depths where walleye hang
out in the summer months. All of
the common divers used by walleye
anglers are included in the Precision
Trolling Data apps www.precision-
trollingdata.com that publish the
diving depth of popular lures and
trolling hardware.
A six foot length of 15# test
3.5
fluorocarbon leader material is the
ideal way to fish walleye spoons
behind divers. To rig up properly, tie
a loop knot in one end of the leader
and attach this loop to the snap on
the back of the diver. Next tie a No.
2 or 3 Ball Bearing Snap Swivel to
the terminal end of the leader and
attach the spoon to the snap.
To get the maximum action from
small trolling spoons, it’s important
to use quality ball bearing swiv-
els. Sampo, P-Line and Berkley
make some of the best ball bearing
swivels on the market. Ordinary
brass crane swivels commonly sold
at tackle shops will not give these
small spoons the freedom of move-
ment they need to trigger consistent
strikes.
A poor quality swivel will also
create another problem in the form
of line twist on the leader. At the
faster trolling speeds required when
pulling spoons, poor quality swivels
simply cannot keep line twist out of
the leader.
Walleye spoons are commonly
fished at speeds ranging from 2.0
to 3.5 MPH. The most successful
trolling speeds vary from day to day,
but 2.5 to 2.8 is usually a very good
range.
Worm Burners
Some anglers have a hard time
getting the confidence needed to put
down the nightcrawler harnesses
and navigate towards trolling crank- thrust percentages, I link my elec- ence clearly suggests that the best rises, walleye lose a little of their
baits and spoons for summer wall- tric motor to my Lowrance Carbon bite of the day tends to happen right hunting advantage because forage
eye. The solution for these anglers sonar units with a wiring harness around sunrise. Being on the water species can better spot approaching
might just be a new class of trolling known as Gateway. This hard-wir- early enough to take advantage of walleye.
lures known collectively as “worm ing allows me to operate the electric peak feeding times is important, not
burners.” These lures are spoons motor using controls on the sonar only for maximizing fishing effort, Summing It Up
with a walleye harness attached to unit, the key fob or the foot control.” but also to minimize the hours spent Slow is the speed to go much
Early to Bed
them that is in turn tipped with a baking in the summer sun. of the year when targeting wall-
live nightcrawler. The morning bite is routinely eye. During June, July and August
Worm burners can be trolled at Early to Rise better because the low sun angle speeding things up and switching to
faster speeds than normal crawler Walleye can be caught all day reduces light penetration and allows lures that have a “need for speed”
harnesses, giving anglers the advan- long most of the time during the walleye to lurk in the shadows while is the fast track to walleye trolling
tage of trolling faster and also using summer months. That stated experi- hunting in open water. As the sun success.n
live bait as an enticement.
Covering Water
Covering water is one of the
biggest advantages associated with
trolling crankbaits and spoons at
summertime speeds. An angler who
is trolling at 2.5 MPH compared to
another who is fishing at 1.5 MPH is
covering eight more miles of water
during a typical day of fishing.
Those who understand the
advantage of covering more wa-
ter often start out their day at the
high range of the practical trolling
speeds. The goal is to cover water
as quickly as possible while search-
ing for active fish. Once a few fish
are caught, it’s a simple step to slow
down the trolling speed a notch or
two to keep baits in the school of
fish for a longer period of time.
The willingness to manipulate
trolling speeds also plays huge
dividends in terms of figuring out
exactly what trolling speed is trig-
gering the most strikes on any given
day. Even modest changes of .1 or
.2 MPH can and often does make a
huge difference.
Auto-Pilot
The absolute best way to control
trolling speeds is with a bow mount-
ed auto-pilot style electric motor.
“The first thing we put in the water
and the last thing we take out of the
water every day is our MotorGuide
Xi5 electric trolling motor,” says
Jake Romanack of Fishing 411 TV.
“We use the electric trolling mo-
tor to tweak trolling speeds one- or
two-tenths of a MPH at a time. It’s
nearly impossible to accomplish this
refined approach to trolling speed
when using a primary outboard for
trolling chores or even most gaso-
line kicker motors.”
To avoid running the batteries
on the electric motor down quickly,
a gasoline kicker motor or primary
outboard is used to provide the
majority of the forward thrust. The
electric motor is used to make small
adjustments to trolling speed.
“Normally I like to set the elec-
tric motor to deliver about 25 to 30
percent of maximum thrust,” adds
Romanack. “This gives me enough
power to make minute changes to
trolling speed and also to steer the
boat effectively when trolling in
traffic. In order to monitor these
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 23
 Consideration given to changing
Michigan’s yellow perch bag limits
1916 - 2017
A CANADIAN
CLASSIC WITH
WORLD WIDE
RECOGNITION
Yellow perch are a highly prized panfish that have declined from their former overall abundance
through the decades of the 1970s and early 1980s in nor thern Michigan. Michigan DNR Fish Division
T
is currently considering updating the former liberal bag limit of 50 perch per day back to 25 per day.
he DNR Fisheries Division is taking
account of a long running concern
of Michigan panfish anglers and
DNR fisheries managers. The DNR
is considering updating their yellow
perch daily bag limit to bring it in
line with other nearby lake states.
The Upper Peninsula Sportsman’s Alliance
has adopted a resolution to reduce the liberal
Michigan yellow perch bag limit down to 25 fish.
The Michigan United Conservation Clubs is seri-
ously considering a similar resolution to decrease
HN the state wide perch bag limit to the same with no
half & half more than 5 being over 12 inches in length. The
Silver & Gold MUCC proposed resolution is the same
Nu-wrinkle that has been in effect at Lake Gogebic
for several years.
Jim Francis, the DNR’s Lake Erie
Watershed Supervisor, confirmed “al-
Genuine Silver, though yellow perch are present all over
Michigan, they are more prevalent in the
24k Gold & northern two-thirds of the state.” Francis
Copper finishes went on to say yellow perch have made
up a significant part of the fishery in
Lakes Erie, St. Clair, Huron and
Michigan. Cover Story...
Decades of depleted inland
yellow perch populations in By Bill Ziegler
Northern Michigan and Michi-
gan’s high bag limits resulted in the consideration
of changing inland yellow perch bag limits. In
The original Williams the 1970s and early 1980s yellow perch were
lure that started it all overabundant and slow growing in a many Up-
per Peninsula inland lakes. During that period,
over 100 years ago. a major fisheries management issue was dealing
with the perch overpopulations, with the manage-
• Multispecies ment goal of improving perch growth rates. One
• Stabilising ridge of the common management activities conducted
by DNR fisheries managers was to thin the perch
• 7 sizes, 28 colours populations with fyke (trap) nets and transfer the
excess perch to the few waters with poor perch
populations.
One example, in 1981 and 1985, a total of
62,900 pounds of yellow perch were thinned
from Chicagon Lake, with a large percentage of
/williamslures those being transferred to Michigamme Reservoir
(both in Iron County) where the perch popula-
www.williams.ca tion was consistently poor. Subsequent surveys
24 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
indicated the growth rate of the remaining yellow
perch in Chicagon Lake increased and the perch
population in the Michigamme Reservoir was
temporarily improved.
During the 1990s inland yellow perch popu-
lations declined in most inland lakes across
northern Michigan. The perch population decline
occurred commonly in lakes with perch predators
like walleye and also in waters where walleye
were not present. The question was raised by
some; could the perch thinning be the cause?
Although this management tool was only used in
a small number of the region’s perch lakes, the
overall population decline occurred in almost all
the region’s perch lakes. In addition, the
regional perch decline occurred sig-
nificantly after that management effort
would have contributed to that decline.
Although yellow perch are a very
prolific fish species it is not clear what
environmental factors have combined to
hold perch populations down from the
last two decades.
Yellow perch are a highly prized
panfish among northern Michigan
and Great Lakes anglers. During
the perch abundance period in the
1970s and early 80s large num-
bers of anglers targeted Upper
Peninsula lakes for yellow perch, although the
pressure was spread out among a number of lakes
with strong perch populations. After the regional
perch decline, occasionally, an area lake’s perch
population would improve. But more intense fish-
ing pressure focused on those waters and quickly
cropped down the perch fisheries. This same
pattern has happened consistently on a number
of lakes with perch fisheries during the last two
decades. Perch population has gone through a
number of ups and downs in the Great Lakes in
recent decades.
Upper Peninsula DNR fisheries biologists
first observed perch declines in some lakes in
1987 and during a UP Regional DNR fisheries
meeting resolved to request that Fisheries Divi-
sion administrators reduce the extremely liberal
perch bag limit from 50 perch per angler down to
25 as part of the overall 25 fish combined panfish
bag limit. ever, that small number of angler’s one day’s bag limit to three day’s and sending the wrong message
This U.P. Regional Fisheries cumulative harvest comprised over bag limit. The current yellow perch about a valued and limited panfish.
request was not adopted. Local fish 40 percent of the statewide panfish bag limit is still 50 although the new The discussion of updating the
managers did suspend perch remov- harvest. That same Wisconsin DNR possession limit on perch went from yellow perch bag limit has already
als except in rare cases such as when survey concluded that reducing the 50 to 150, a three-fold increase. been discussed in the Fisheries
perch were overrunning single spe- panfish daily bag limit from 50 to Although the increased possession Warm Water Steering Committee
cies trout lakes (e.g. Hannah Webb 25 would lower the overall perch limit made sense for other fish spe- and the Citizens Advisory Com-
Lake – Iron County) where they harvest by 25 percent. cies like game fish such as walleye mittees. Soon the DNR Fisheries
were illegally introduced. During The concern of over-exploitation and pike etc., to anglers and biolo- Division will electronically survey
the 1990s, source lakes of overabun- of limited yellow perch populations gists concerned with depleted yel- approximately 200,000 Michi-
dant perch were rare but lakes that was further exacerbated in 2011 low perch population in Michigan gan anglers before making a final
could use a boost in perch popula- when the State Legislature raised lakes, this seems to be moving perch recommendation on the issue to the
tions were becoming more common. the panfish possession limit from exploitation in the wrong direction Natural Resource Commission.n
About 20 years ago the Wisconsin
DNR recognized a need to address
the perch and panfish declines, and
working with the angling public
representatives reduced their perch
bag limit to 25 in combination with
other panfish. In Minnesota there are
many very large lakes with strong
perch fisheries. They were receiv-
ing intense fishing pressure on their
perch fisheries by non-resident
anglers, especially from Wisconsin
and Upper Michigan. The Minne-
sota DNR Fisheries recognized that
maintaining the long-term viability
of their perch fisheries was impor-
tant to both angler and the overall
fish community.
More recently, anglers and
fisheries biologists on the Great
Lakes have observed declines in
perch populations. The number of
quality-sized perch were also greatly
reduced in perch waters across the
region. The proponents of perch
bag limit adjustments pointed out
that focused perch fishing quickly
cropped down the perch popula-
tions and size structure in any water
where perch abundance had started
to build up. It was felt that yellow
perch was a highly valuable panfish
target for anglers and forage for
other predator fish.
The extremely liberal perch
bag limit of 50 sends the opposite
message to the anglers – which
perch are not as valued other panfish
whose bag limit is 25 in combina-
tion. It was felt that the bag limit of
50 perch sends a message to anglers
that they are still overly abundant.
It was felt that lowering the perch
bag limit and putting it in combina-
tion with other panfish like sunfish
would also simplify the regulations
where popular panfish all had a bag
limit of 25. The argument was made
that bringing the Michigan perch
bag limit reciprocation with Wiscon-
sin would help avoid concentrating
ROSY BROTHERS INC.
targeted perch fishing in Michigan; 5727 DRYDEN ROAD
rather it would spread it across Wis-
consin and Upper Michigan. DRYDEN, Michigan 48428
Wisconsin DNR Fisheries
studied their inland perch fisher-
ies extensively in preparation for 810-796-3770
making their decreased perch bag
limit. Wisconsin’s statewide pan-
fish survey concluded that only five
percent of Wisconsin anglers creeled
(kept) over 25 panfish per trip. How-
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 25
 Cover Story...By Richard P. Smith
22-Point
Nontypical
A
fter blowing a chance
at a nice 8-pointer
during bow season,
Joe Blugerman from
Munith was hoping to
make up for the missed
opportunity with another buck during
gun season. He got that chance on
November 25, 2017, and this time
things went his way. Not only did Joe
bag a buck bigger than the one he
missed, he shot the very biggest ant-
lered whitetail on record for Jackson
County with nontypical antlers. The
22-pointer has a gross score of 213
and nets 206, according to state big
game record keeper Commemorative
Bucks of Michigan.
Jackson County has a reputa-
tion as one of the best producers of
bucks with large antlers in the state.
The current state record typical
netting 198 came from that county
along with a number of other high
scoring typicals. When it comes to
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world class nontypicals, however, the
county has only given up a few scor-
ing more than 195 and Blugerman’s
is the biggest of those. The previ-
ous number one nontypical from
Jackson County is an 18-point that
Steve Crocker shot during 1989 that
measured 201 1/8.
It was November 8 when Joe
blew his chance at a nice 8-point
with bow and arrow. Even though
he’s hunted whitetails for 35 years
and taken his share of bucks, he
still gets excited when trying to add
another one to his credit. That’s a big
part of the reason why he continues
hunting whitetails.
When Joe first saw the 8-pointer
at a distance of 100 yards, it looked
like the buck was going away from
him. He took out a Can Call from
his pocket and tried that to see if he
could change the buck’s mind about
where he wanted to go. The call had
the desired results. The deer slowly Joe Blugerman from Munith with Jackson County’s largest nontypical.
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circled Joe’s position, gradually get- Joe ended up stripping to his un- inches. The 11 x 11 rack has a typical old. It had a dressed weight of 186
ting closer. derwear, swimming to the whitetail 10-point frame with six nontypical pounds, so its live weight was well
Part of the problem is Joe was and tying a rope to it, so it could be points on each antler. over 200 pounds.
able to watch the buck for a long pulled to shore. The most noticeable and impres- For detailed stories about how
time before it finally got into position Joe said the temperature was in sive nontypical point is a drop tine other giant bucks from Jackson
for a shot. The anticipation of getting the 40s, so the swim wasn’t as bad off the right antler. Total length of County were bagged, refer to the
a shot kept building along with his as it could have been. The water was the 12 nontypical points is 40 1/8 6-book series titled Great Michigan
dosage of adrenaline and excitement. cold, but air temperatures below inches. The base of each antler is Deer Tales, which were written by
By the time the buck was in position freezing aren’t unusual during late more than 6 inches in circumference. the author of this article. Each of the
for a shot, Joe had a full blown case November. Circumference of the right antler is books contains at least one chapter
of buck fever and cleanly missed the Needless to say, Joe was sur- 6 4/8 inches and the left base is 6 1/8 about Jackson County’s big bucks.
deer. prised and pleased about the size of inches. The current state record typical is
After firearm season opened, the the deer’s antlers. He did have plenty Joe sent a tooth in from his covered in Book 2. Book 7 in the se-
only bucks Blugerman saw were of time to find out how big the rack buck to have it aged. That’s done by ries will be out by this fall. A special
yearlings. He said he normally passes was after getting out of the water taking a cross section of the tooth prepublication offer for that book is
up small bucks, preferring to take and putting his clothes back on. The and counting the rings. The south- on the author’s website (www.rich-
deer that are at least 2 ½ years old. inside spread of the antlers is 18 6/8 ern Michigan buck was 7 1/2 years ardpsmith.com).n
He has four bucks to his credit that
score in the 130s. Two of those were
8-pointers, one was a 9-point and the
final one had 10 points.
On the afternoon of the 25th, Joe
decided to hunt from a ladder stand
he had taken a couple of bucks from
previously. Around 4:45 p.m., while
standing on the platform, he decided
to look behind him for any sign of
movement. After looking in that
direction for about a minute without
seeing anything, Blugerman turned
back to watch the terrain in front of
him. To his surprise, there was a deer
standing broadside 25 yards away.
‘There’s a deer,’ was Joe’s sur-
prised mental reaction. ‘How did it
get so close,’ he wondered, not hear-
ing a sound before seeing the deer.
‘Holy cow, it’s a monster,’ Joe
thought to himself as the size of the
deer’s antlers registered in his brain.
‘He’s looking right at me.’
“The first thing I did is close
my eyes. I didn’t want to make eye
contact,” he explained. “My gun was
hanging in the tree next to me and I
didn’t dare move. I would open my
eyes every five seconds or so, kinda
squinting at him. He would turn his
head to look away and then look
back at me. I opened and closed my
eyes about 10 times.
“I didn’t have a chance to study
his antlers. I noticed that the antlers
were wide and had a lot of mass. I
knew he wasn’t a typical. I was tell-
ing myself, ‘You can tell how big he
is later after he’s dead. Don’t blow
it,’” he reminded himself, remember-
ing the 8-pointer during bow season.
The buck eventually started tak-
ing a few steps and when his head
was behind a tree, Joe grabbed his
scoped 20 gauge single shot Har-
rington & Richardson shotgun with
a rifled barrel and got ready for a
shot. When the buck was angling
away at a distance of about 35 yards,
Blugerman put a Hornady sabot slug
through the buck’s lungs.
The buck died near the far side
of a nearby river. Part of an antler
and the deer’s body were visible
above the water, but Blugerman still
couldn’t tell how big the buck’s rack
really was. Joe called some neigh-
bors for help in retrieving the deer
and they brought chest waders for
him to wear. The water proved to be
too deep for the waders, however, so
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 27

FOLLOWING THE
HERRING RUN
F
or the most part, fish-
ing is both pleasurable
and exciting…a day on
the water can be one to
remember. Anglers of
the sport seek walleye,
perch, bass, Northern pike and
many seek only salmon. But when
it comes to dedication and pure
pleasure, count on fisher people to
track and follow the annual herring
run. Anglers lucky enough
to own a fishing boat have
most likely already filled
that spot on their bucket
list.
Lake herring belong
to the trout and salmon
family. Also related to
the whitefish; they often
bear the name of
northern cisco.
They range small-
By Betty Sodders
er than whitefish
and can be found not only in the St.
Marys River and along the northern
shore of Lake Huron, but can also
be fished in numerous inland lakes
as well, such as the Manistique and
Higgins Lakes and far to the western
U. P., Lake Gogebic.
Herring are preyed upon heavily
by lake trout, northern pike, yel-
low perch and walleye and are an
important part of the food chain in
the Great Lakes ecosystem. During
the late 19th and early 20th centu-
ries, herring made up a significant
part of the commercial fishery but
their numbers dropped dramatically.
Basically, today, they are eagerly
sought by anglers as they gather into
spawning schools from late June
through fall. Peak herring activ-
ity usually occurs during the 4th of
July weekend with hundreds of avid
28 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
anglers hauling boats, heading north
for the annual herring run.
Many species of fish including
herring were the subject of a col-
lection effort and survey conducted
during August of 2017 by the St.
Marys River Fisheries Task Force
of the Great Lakes Fishery Com-
mission. Agencies involved were
the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service
and the Ontario Ministry of Natu-
ral Resources & Forestry
including the Sault Tribe
of Chippewa Indians. The
purpose of the study was to
gauge the health and status
of various fish populations
in the river. Herring were
included. Edible fish killed
during the survey were
donated to local
food banks after
being examined.
This survey is
conducted every five years. Results
will be made available after the
study is complete in 2018.
Here in the far eastern end of the
Upper Peninsula, herring runs start
at St. Ignace, move onward to-
wards Cedarville and Hessel, better
known as Les Cheneaux...feeding
until mayfly hatches diminish, then
herring move on, finally reaching
Drummond Island and the lower St.
Marys. Here once again, schools of
fish hungrily feed on new hatches.
The mayfly is the ‘key’…the ‘trig-
ger’ that spawns the annual run.
Last month, I had the pleasure
of talking with brothers Ray and
Randy Reasner of Rose City, who
have been fishing the Raber/Drum-
mond area of the St. Marys River
since the late 1970s, zeroing in on
the summer’s herring runs. Now
retired, both men and their families
enjoy their cabin off Raber Bay near
Lime and St. Joe’s Islands in the
lower river.
Ray added, “We spend the entire
month of July at the cabin so we
pretty much judge when the run be-
gins. A lot of anglers only fish when
the run starts but mayfly hatches
progress throughout the entire
month and well into summer and
fall. Actually, we don’t fish this area;
instead, we set our sights 12 to 13
miles to the south, in the vicinity of
Drummond, Maple and Butterfield
Islands; finally, fishing off Burnt.
(Once a private group of Islands,
Burnt being the largest is owned by
the State of Michigan and remains a
popular fishing spot for bass).”
Next we discussed area may-
fly hatches. I asked if they were as
heavy as those along the St. Clair
Never go herring fishing without an ice-filled cooler to keep herring
cold as they can easily turn to mush if not properly handled.
Ray Reasner holds a herring
caught on a mayfly. He also
uses wax worms and tear
drops.
River downstate where they mul-
tiply to the point of having to be
swept off storefronts. Randy filled
me in; “Not the best! We have so
much high wind that new hatches
cannot fight the wind; carcasses,
rather castings, often litter the water.
I should add that on rare occasions,
the hatch has produced enough
mayflies that we have had to sweep
them off the cabin deck, but that is
certainly not the norm.”
When I asked where their favor-
ite herring fishing grounds existed,
both men claimed that…they enjoy
fishing where the run is at its peak…
where the more herring boats the
better…they enjoy catching herring
to give away for others to enjoy.
During the 4th of July long week-
end, it is not uncommon for Reas-
ner’s boat to be surrounded by 40 to
50 boats. On some days, the broth-
ers advised, “There may be three
distinct groups on the water close to
us; one batch to the south, one to the
east, another to our west.”
I might also mention that the
Reasners’ prefer a bit of a chop to
the surface of the water as it proves
better fishing than having water flat
as a mirror.
Next, Ray joined in the conver-
sation, “As previously mentioned,
we hit the islands seven miles off
Drummond Island. These islands
tend to break the wind, giving may-
flies a better chance at survival. If
you can term it survival, for may-
flies have a lifespan of 24 hours.”
Let’s talk technique! Now
Randy spoke up, “Everything we
use is ultra-light; long and flexible
rods, 8-10 feet in length with a super
sensitive tip. Some herring fisher-
men prefer a cane pole measuring
up to 15-feet; once made of bamboo,
now manufactured of metal so they
can extend. We prefer to use a light
line, 4-6 lb. test.” The topic of bait surfaced; “We
“At times our catch of the day
runs 50 percent whitefish and her-
ring. Last year my brother and I had
taken some 80 herring by July 11
and no whitefish. Average length
was running 26-27 inches. If fish are
small but in good shape, we very
carefully return them to the waters
of Potgannissing Bay.
The brothers cleaned their daily
catches first, ate them fried, cleaned
some for smoking or pickling. Back
in a day, there was no limit on the
number of herring caught. Today,
there is a daily limit of 12 per per-
son in the boat.
Speaking of boats, I asked Ran-
dy what type of boat they use for
herring fishing; “We have a 21-foot
Mako, similar to a Boston Whaler
that holds a wide open space mid-
ship for easy rod activity. Further-
Ray Reasner of Rose City has
been fishing the herring run
near Raber/Drummond Island
area since the 1970s
more, the boat is easy to maneuver
and handles rough seas well.”
Next we talked about physical
attributes of the herring species such
as being hard to keep and clean for
they can quickly turn soft. Most
anglers drop herring directly into
an ice water filled pail. The broth-
ers advised, “If we end up four or
five miles away from our dock and
discover that we left our coolers at
the cabin, it is important enough to
us that we turn the boat around and
head back to get them. If not iced
down, herring tend to quickly mush.
Once cleaned, the fillets must be
submerged in cold water. Finally,
freezer bags holding herring filets
are filled as full as possible with
water, and then placed in the freezer.
Special handling is of utmost impor-
tance.
basically employ mayflies or wax
worms on tear drops. It is not unusu-
al to buy wax worms 200 at a time
and they should be kept cool.”
I have often heard that her-
ring have what is termed, ‘a paper
mouth.’ Ray commented regarding
that statement; “Yes indeed, ab-
solutely! They possess a very soft
mouth. Set the hook and you might
get…just lips! They fight extremely
hard, making them fun to land. Her-
ring don’t like sunlight; probably
one good reason why they tend to
fight hard.”
My next question during the
interview centered on whether or
not the brothers fished elsewhere
than St. Marys River bays and they
replied, “As far back as I can re-
member, we always enjoyed fishing
perch and walleye in Saginaw Bay.
Other hot spots proved to be the
Singing Bridge at AuGres for smelt
dipping. Area inland lakes were
popular for bluegills, sunfish and
crappies. But going herring fishing,
well that was the ‘frosting on the
cake!’ And we have been com-
ing north to the Raber/Drummond
Island area since the 1970s with our
parents when Randy and I were 7
and 8 year old kids.”
My final question for Ray and
Randy Reasner was; “Has anything
www.rabblerouserlures.com
The mayfly hatch triggers the annual herring run across nor thern
Lake Huron to the Les Cheneaux Area and onward to DeTour/Drum-
mond Island and into the bays of the St. Marys River.
extraordinary ever happened to you point, the caretaker came down
during the herring run season…bad to the dock to see if we were
storm…unusual catch…mishap? alright and offered us sandwiches.
Ray responded, “There was one Later the U. S. Border Patrol
time when the water was extremely also checked in. Truly, Lime
rough that crossing back to our Island provided a welcome port
canal was dangerous. We were in in a storm.”
the vicinity of Lime Island so we At the closing of the interview,
tied up at the old Lime Island Coal both of the herring fishermen
Dock, a former ore carrier refuel- expressed their feelings regarding
ing station on the St. Marys River. the sport; “Herring fishing, from fol-
Long abandoned when oil replaced lowing the annual ‘herring run’ from
coal, the dock remained open for first fish on, to last fish of the season
watercraft visitors to the island. landed, is a great experience for kids
Lime Island holds a former small (and grown-ups alike).
village (now Michigan State Park “Let’s keep the sport alive
cabin rentals), a small rustic camp- for future youngsters; sons and
ground, and former village buildings daughters, grandchildren and great-
such as the school which is open to grandchildren. It is a special way of
the public as well as the refueling introducing a young fisher kid to the
company’s superintendant’s home, sport of fishing as it often represents
currently a museum.” a fast and furious pace for bringing
“We tied up to the dock to wait in a lot of fish in a short amount of
out the wind and waves. We were time. No time for boredom ever
there about three hours. At one exists!”n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 29
 The unforeseeable challenges
of Michigan’s deer herd today
T
hat hot summer’s day
on a Sunday in mid-
June, 2014, featured a
cloudless blue sky and
a scorching afternoon
sun while I was giv-
ing a golf cart tour of the farm to
my grandchildren. It was when we
neared the drainage ditch which
runs through the center of our farm
that we rousted several deer out
of the tall switch-grass filter strip.
They had obviously just gotten a
cool drink from the ditch and were
stretching their legs a bit. As the
deer scattered and disappeared into
the dense grass, one stopped after a
short run and remained standing and
motionless, and it was clearly a very
distinct standout.
It was an adult doe which was
definitely emaciated, and actu-
ally featuring nothing but skin and
bones which represented a literal
hide covered skeleton. In
addition to all of this were
its “gecko” eyes, which
were enlarged and protrud-
ing from its skull. I kept
the golf cart in motion and
headed to our house to drop
off the grandkids and get
a camera. Upon returning
By Tom Lounsbury
to where the
emaciated
doe was last
seen, she wasn’t in sight, so I got
out of the golf cart and began a slow
search in the tall grass, where I soon
found her.
She hadn’t gone far, and the
sudden rousting and dashing off a
bit with the other deer which left
her behind, had obviously tuckered
her out due to her extremely poor
physical condition. I approached her
slowly and as quietly as possible,
which can be a challenge in chest-
high and summer-dry prai-
rie grass. The doe’s hearing
was certainly working, and
she was moving her nose
left and right trying to scent
any possible danger when
she obviously heard my
slight rustling in the grass.
It was clear however, that
her protrud-
ing “gecko”
eyes afford-
ed her no vision of anything. She
was clearly blind as I approached
as close as I dare without spooking
her, and used my camera to take a
number of pictures. I then carefully
slipped away and left the obviously
ailing doe in peace.
Many folks may often assume
the best thing in this instance is to
put such an animal out of its misery,
but unless there is an ongoing deer
season and a kill tag on hand, it is
illegal for a private citizen to kill a
wild deer. I must admit it was hard
for me to simply walk away and
leave such a suffering animal, but
I also knew this deer needed to be
tested to ascertain what had caused
her to reach her physical state. Just a
couple years previous to my dis-
covering this doe, 15,000 deer had
succumbed to EHD in southern and
central Michigan. However, no EHD
affected deer were ever documented
in the Thumb. Also, a captive white-
tail deer had been found with CWD,
and none had been yet to be discov-
ered with CWD in any free-roaming
wild deer, which would sadly, hap-
pen the following year.
I spent a number of years
working as a State Meat Inspector
in slaughterhouses and had done
my share of ante- and postmor-
tem inspections of animals being
slaughtered, which means I’ve seen
a lot of stuff, some of it downright
nasty, and have an idea at times
what might be ailing a critter. In
the instance of the emaciated doe, I
was sure her protruding eyes were
caused by some sort of pressure
on the brain, but other than that, I
didn’t have a clue of anything else.
Discovering what really caused her
affliction would require an expert
lab analysis.
The following morning, I
called the Bay City DNR office and
contacted then Thumb Area Wild-
life Biologist, Don Bonnette, told
him of what I had found, and then
emailed him the very descriptive
pictures of the doe. Upon reviewing
the pictures, Bonnette readily agreed
the doe needed to be located and
euthanized and sent in to the DNR
Laboratory in Lansing. I agreed to
go out and see if the doe was still
where last seen, which she wasn’t,
and in fact she had completely
disappeared. I volunteered to locate
her and call when I had done so, but
I let Bonnette know I was waiting
until high noon, when the day would
be at its hottest and the ailing doe
would need water. I was certain she
was using the drainage ditch for a
ready source of water.
Locating this doe would be
similar to finding a needle in a hay-
stack when you realize the ditch has
100 feet wide filter strips along each
side entailing switch grass that is
from 4 to 6 feet high, and combined
with the natural brushy cover of the

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ditch. The filter strips were also bor-
dered by large prairie grass fields,
so it was going to be a challenge
locating the sick doe. I was pretty
sure however, that the doe would
be staying close to the water, and
would be lying somewhere on the
north side of the ditch for the best
available shade, on a hot cloudless
day with temperatures well into the
high 90s.
My goal was to work the south
side of the ditch along a deer trail,
with the wind (which there was
hardly any of) in my favor and a full
view of the water below. I’m not too
bad of a tracker, but unlike African
Bushmen who are well known for
their ability to be able to follow ant
tracks across a rock, I knew there
would be a distinct challenge for
me in sorting matters out on any of
the sun-baked hard clay of the deer
trails. My goal was to locate where
the doe might have gotten a drink,
and she would most likely be resting
in the shade on the ditch’s north side
not far from that point. The water in
the ditch had a slow and sultry sum-
mer current, and deer tend to drink
with their front hooves in the water,
which in turn causes the water to
remain a bit muddied up for awhile.
I was clad in soft camo clothes
and a pair of moccasins for a quiet
approach as I literally still-hunted
(where eyes are used more than
feet) through the dense cover along
the ditch, and it was hot and sweaty
work. I eventually spotted what I
was looking for, a small spot of riled
up water caused by a deer recently
getting a drink. Directly above this
point was a cottonwood tree, and I
thought I could see part of a dark
form lying in the shade at its base. I
brought my binocular into play and
let out a short, soft whistle, and the
side of a doe’s head with a protrud-
ing “gecko” eye briefly came into
view from near the base of the tree.
I gave the deer time to settle
1-800-700-2628
down before I eased back out as
quiet and slow as my approach had
been. Once I knew I was far enough
away, I put my cell phone to work
and notified Bonnette of the deer’s
exact location. She would soon be
euthanized (and finally out of her
misery) and on the way to Lansing
for a laboratory analysis.
My dire hope was that I hadn’t
discovered the first EHD or CWD
infected deer in the Thumb. I was
however, very impressed with how
the DNR handled the entire mat-
ter, and I soon received a copy of a
written and detailed report revealing
what the laboratory examination,
which was quite thorough, had un-
covered. The doe had a severe head
infection, most likely caused by a
head injury, and intense swelling
had caused her eyes to protrude. The
infection was also endemic and had
affected he entire body, and in the
wild, she had been looking at a very
slow and lingering death.
It is very important to always
report any sightings of sick wildlife
to the proper authorities as soon as
possible. This can be done online by This is the emaciated and sick doe Tom Lounsbury discovered on his farm
going to mi.gov/wildlifedisease or during the summer of 2014. Its traumatic condition was caused by a head
contact the Wildlife Health Disease infection, and much to Tom’s relief, it was not due to EHD or CWD.
Laboratory at (517) 336-5030. On a
weekend, I wouldn’t hesitate to call
or text the RAP (Report All Poach-
ing) hotline at (800) 292-7800.
The sad fact is that CWD has
arrived to Michigan, with the first
infected free-roaming wild deer be-
ing discovered not far from Lansing
in 2015. More were discovered in
Montcalm County in the fall of
2017, and the numbers and involved
areas are such that it is no longer a
case of eliminating the disease, but
now it is a matter of containing it.
CWD can rear its ugly head at any
time or place in our state, and it is
up to the public (including hunters) Hello, this is Charlie Morse.
to play an important role in detect- At 67 years old I don't have a lifetime
ing and helping to control this hor- to wait! Air pruned containerized
rible disease.n plants, equals RESULTS SOONER!
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 31
 The Au Sable River changed the world
By Casey Warner-MDNR
P
erhaps the most re-
nowned place to cast a
fly in Michigan – the Au
Sable River, running 138
miles through the north-
ern Lower Peninsula – is
significant for much more than its
outstanding trout fishing. In 1959,
16 fishermen, united by their love
of trout and the Au Sable River
and concerned about the need for
long-term conservation of Michi-
gan’s cold-water streams, gathered
at George Griffith’s home east of
Grayling.
“For some time I and several
others have been considering ways
and means to protect and preserve
trout and trout fishing, and have
come up with the idea of forming an
organization to be known as Trout,
Unlimited,” wrote Griffith, a mem-
ber of the Michigan Conservation
Commission, in an invitation letter
to a fellow angler in 1959.
“Such an organization could
work with state and federal agencies
now charged with that responsibility
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The Au Sable River is known throughout the country as a premier
trout fishing destination. MDNR photo
… it would help educate the public
on the dire need of sound, practi-
cal, scientific trout management and
regulations to protect the trout as
well as satisfy fishermen.”
Available
Disc Brakes, Galvanized
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Harvey, Michigan’s state archivist
and the exhibition’s curator. “The
stories in the exhibition demonstrate
the innovative and unprecedented
ways private citizens and state
government worked together to
conserve and protect the river and
sustainably manage its fish popula-
tions.”
Harvey said that the idea for the
exhibit stemmed from the Michigan
History Center’s longstanding rela-
tionship with, and eventual donation
of materials from, Art Neumann,
one of the cofounders of Trout
Unlimited and its executive director
from 1962 to 1965.
“Instead of just focusing on the
Trout Unlimited group, we took a
wider view of the river that inspired
these people to work for systemic
change,” Harvey said.
The exhibition features George
Griffith’s 24-foot-long Au Sable
river boat and a re-creation of Neu-
mann’s Wanigas Rod Shop, where
The sportsmen that responded he made fly rods considered works
to Griffith’s invitation to meet at his of art and became known as a cham-
cabin on the Au Sable believed that pion of conservation.
better and more scientific habitat A “battery” of glass beakers
management would improve the en- from the Grayling fish hatchery,
vironment as well as the state’s trout each of which held thousands of
population and fishing. eggs, highlights the late 19th-centu-
Nearly 60 years after that initial ry work of state conservationists and
meeting, the organization those fish- private citizens who tried to save the
ermen founded – Trout Unlimited Arctic grayling.
– has become a national champion An iconic cold-water fish that
of fish habitat conservation. Today, once dominated northern Michigan
the organization has almost 300,000 streams but was almost extinct by
members and supporters, with 30
offices nationwide, and sponsors
the beginning of the 20th century,
Arctic grayling were native only to
the International Trout Congress. Michigan and Montana in the lower
The Michigan History Museum in 48 states.
Lansing is showcasing Trout Unlim-
ited’s founding on the Au Sable in a
“When sportsmen first discov-
ered the grayling in the Au Sable,
special exhibition, “The River that it drew international attention,”
Changed the World,” open through Harvey said.
July 29. The current Michigan Arctic
“The Au Sable River has influ- Grayling Initiative now aims to
enced – and continues to influence – restore self-sustaining populations
people around the world,” said Mark of the fish within its historical range
Michigan Trappers & Predator Callers Association Rendezvous
Dates: August 17th & 18th
Where: Osceola County Fairgrounds in Evart, Michigan
Dealer Buildings: Open at 8:00am • Close at 5:00pm Admission: Adults $5 • Kids 16 and under free
• Five buildings full of vendors plus • Trap setting contest (all age groups) • Camping on grounds with full hook ups
tailgaters outside of building selling Saturday at noon ($17 per night or $25 for the entire weekend)
used equipment. • Adult hay scramble ($2 admission, • Inside vendor booth space $40 for 10 feet
• Demos going on all day Friday and all winner takes all monies) noon of frontage (8 foot table and chair)
day Saturday, free of charge. • Skinning demos • Tailgating $25 for a 20 foot wide spot,
• Kids raffle Saturday • Friday evening donation meal (tentative) good for the entire weekend
(can register at 9:00am Saturday, • Saturday evening live auction • Food is available on the fairgrounds
Drawing at 4:00pm Saturday) • Quickie or walk around raffles at the lions booth.
• Kids games Saturday at noon, plus • Major raffle with 22 big ticket items • Many restaurants within walking distance.
kids hay scramble. (drawn at 4:00pm Saturday)
Host Hotel: Osceola Grand hotel in Evart • (231) 734-0470
(let them know you are with the Trappers to receive discount)
Convention information Contact
Joe Velchansky Sr. at 616-894-6214 or josephv@frontier.com
Trapping and Predator hunting supplies, fur handling supplies, baits, lures, tanned furs.
Vendors included; Joe Goodman , Wolf Creek, Paul Dobbins, F&T, PCS Outdoors, Jeff Dunlap, Mark June,
Earnest Winter, Kevin Syperda, Mike Kain, J.R. & Sons, J.&K. Fur Exchange and more to come.
in Michigan.
Original paneling and artifacts
from the Wolverine fish car, which
carried millions of fish by rail across
Michigan, tell museum visitors the
story of efforts to plant trout in the
Au Sable.
Fred Westerman, one of the
first employees of the Wolverine
and former fisheries chief in the
Michigan Department of Conserva-
tion, forerunner to the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources,
once reported: “Frequently … thirty
cans of fish would be dropped off at
some spooky junction – like in the
jack pine at Au Sable-Oscoda with The Wolverine fish car, a conver ted railroad car, carried milk cans of fingerlings (young fish) to lakes and rivers
the cemetery across the tracks and all over the state from 1914 to 1937. Depar tment of Conser vation photos
the depot a mile from town – on the
night run of the Detroit & Mackinac, watersheds in North America, and experiences. from the exhibit – like fly-fishing
to await the morning train going up produces exceptional trout fishing. Visitors can learn how to tie a fly and kayaking – that can be enjoyed
the river branch.” “It wasn’t always that way, though. and compare tied flies to real insects by a variety of age groups. We’re
The exhibition also introduces Without the creation of Trout under a microscope or sit in a kayak especially excited to showcase a fly-
the relationship between the Anishi- Unlimited at the Au Sable River, and take a 360-degree virtual reality fishing star and host our first-ever
nabe (Odawa and Ojibwe people) by those who understood the paddle down the Au Sable. kayak tour.”
and the Au Sable River and explores potential of our cold-water They can also explore the es- Programs include a fly casting
Grayling as a fishing and tourism resources, Michigan might not sence of the Au Sable without leav- workshop with noteworthy fly-tier
hotspot since the mid-19th century. be home to one of the world’s ing mid-Michigan through a series and fly fisherman Jeff “Bear” An-
Current DNR Fisheries Chief greatest trout fisheries.” of museum programs revolving drews, a kayak tour on the Red Ce-

SPECS
Jim Dexter applauded the vision and Trout Unlimited’s work has also around the exhibit. dar River, and the Second Saturdays
passion of those who recognized encouraged other groups like the “While the exhibit focuses on for Families series featuring hands-
the Au Sable’s promise as a premier Anglers of the Au Sable, who now the wonderful stories, images and on activities like making a compass,

SPECS
fishing destination. lead the charge for preserving this sounds of the river, we wanted to a sundial or a miniature boat.

DON’T LIE.
“As the name of the exhibit unique, high-quality body of water. bring the Au Sable River to the To learn more about “A River

SPECS
implies, the Au Sable is a world- Dubbed the “river guardians,” the capital region,” said Michigan His- That Changed the World” and to
class fishery resource attracting Anglers group has fought multiple tory Center engagement director find Michigan History Museum visi-

DON’T LIE.
anglers from every corner of the environmental threats to river. Tobi Voigt. “We designed a series tor information, go to www.michi-
earth,” Dexter said. “It’s one of the The exhibit and related events also of programs highlighting themes gan.gov/museum.n

DON’T
SPECS LIE
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A “battery” of glass beakers was used to raise fish from eggs in

the hatchery at Graying in the 1920s.
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 33
 There’s still time...By Andy Evans-MDNR
Hunting morels with Mi-HUNT
I
t was May, and a certain
spring activity was on my
mind – looking for some
tasty morel mushrooms
in the beautiful hardwood
forests of northern Lower
Michigan.
As that Friday’s work shift was
drawing to a close, I thought about
places on state-managed land that I
might find a new “honey hole” – a
spot covered with morels.
A new weekend adventure
would soon be at hand, and an
amazing forest with rolling hills
awaited. We are quite fortunate here
in Michigan, having over 4.6 million
acres of state land to explore.
The next morning, I grabbed
my compass, jackknife and mesh
bags and then headed for the woods.
That hunting spot I had in mind
turned out to need one more warm
rain, so no mushrooms had popped
up that night. I did find a nice deer
run, however. Truth be told, every
morel hunt is ultimately a success,
as you always find plenty of fresh
air and sunshine in Michigan’s great
outdoors.
Aiding the Hunt
The key to putting me in the
right area was an interactive map
application maintained by the
Michigan Department of Natural
Resources called Mi-HUNT (www.
mi.gov/mihunt). I learned about
Mi-HUNT through my work at the
DNR’s customer service center in
Gaylord, and I often recommend
it to our customers. This mapping
tool delivers a wealth of information
right to your computer or mobile
device.
When looking for morel mush-
rooms, I often target hilly areas
covered in hardwoods, along with
burn scars from recent forest fires.
Mi-HUNT provides customized
maps of state-managed land, show-
ing ash and other upland deciduous
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34 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
tree cover types. Mi-HUNT has
topographic maps and maps that
show what types of trees are on
state-managed land, as well as aerial
photography for any area you zoom
in on. You can also find more DNR
information to target morel mush-
rooms at Mi-MOREL.
The Mi-HUNT tool lets users in-
clude or exclude layers of informa-
tion on the maps they view. These
layers include recreational facilities,
trails, hunting lands, cover types,
township, range and sections.
Base maps include 7.5-minute
topographic quadrangles and aerial
photos depicting leaf-off conditions
from 1998, provided by the U.S.
Geological Survey, and 2009 leaf-on
images from the National Aerial
Imagery Program.
To help a user’s research, a
guide on the left side of the Mi-
HUNT page indicates how densely
wooded a place will be, indicated by
numerical value, and what type of
trees dominate the area, shown with
a color.
Mi-HUNT maps also show con-
tour lines to help users find the hills
and other elevation highs and lows.
From viewing the Mi-HUNT map
screen, I was able to locate hillsides
with ash and other hardwoods.
A Morel Primer
If you have never tried morel
mushrooms, you might want to
explore their culinary power. Some
people describe them as nutty, some
say meaty – but most agree the
morel truly is unique. They can be
added to many dishes, sautéed in
butter and onions, or fried. You will
be rewarded with a great dish to
share with family and friends, from
Michigan’s natural wild bounty.
If you have never collected
morels before, here are some tips for
the first-timer:
• Remember to bring your com-
pass or GPS unit, and plan a route
that will bring you back to your
vehicle. Remember to let someone
know where you will be that day
– let’s call that filing your “mush-
roomer plan” for safety.
• Always cut or pinch the mush-
rooms off at ground level, to protect
the lower portion of the fungus and
ensure mushroom regrowth in future
years. Pulling them out can do
permanent damage. This is where a
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jackknife comes in handy.
• For that same reason, and to
maintain a good nourishing layer of
leaf litter, you should never rake an
area for morels or drive an off-road
vehicle cross country. For more in-
formation on using ORVs in Michi-
gan, you can visit www.mi.gov/
orvinfo.
• Using a mesh bag (such as an
onion bag) will allow your collected
morels to stay drier, versus using a
paper or plastic bag.
Most important of all – know
what you are eating! You will need
to know the difference between a
“true” morel and the “false morels,”
such as beefsteak mushrooms which
are poisonous. Try to work with
an experienced morel mushroom
hunter. In addition, there is a very
good mushroom identification book-
let available on the U.S. Department
of Agriculture website. Note that the
true morels are hollow when sliced
open lengthwise, and that the bot-
tom edges of their caps are attached
to the stem.
More Mi-HUNT Help
Are you new to using interactive
maps, or are you new to Michigan?
Mi-HUNT is ready to help you plan
all kinds of outings. The Mi-HUNT
webpage has video tutorials to help
users quickly get up to speed on us-
ing the application, whether they are
mobile users or using a desktop or
laptop computer. The webpage also
provides useful links to other infor-
mation on wildlife viewing, public
hunting land maps, game areas,
waterfowl hunting, and download-
able geographic data.
For those looking to improve
their chances while on the hunt, be it
for morels, deer, fish, camping, hik-
ing and more, a good place to start is
Mi-HUNT. Let this application help
make your expedition for morels
memorable, just like it helped me
with my hunt.n
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 Should you leave your turkey decoys and calls at home this spring?...By Adam Lewis

Whitetail tactics and turkey success

W
hen it comes field, a good spot to see gobblers in
to turkey hunt- the past, and where I had success-
ing these days, fully taken birds before. However,
there is a veri- with the trail camera intel, I had to
table plethora ask myself “would I rather hunt a
of equipment large field where turkey meander,
to “ensure” we have success in and have to rely on my calling (or
the field. Much like the whitetail luck), or a ¼ acre foodplot where all
hunting world, new and better gear they have to do is show up to be in
(calls, decoys, blinds, camo patterns, range?”
choke tubes, binoculars...) flood Playing the odds is usually the
the market each year with manu- way to go, so the food plot was a vi-
facturers and sponsored celebrities tal move. Entry, just like with white-
telling us we “need” them to ensure tail, was key, and although you do
success. In fact, in 2017 certain not need to worry about wind/scent,
scent control companies were hitting having a visual barrier of brush,
the social media realm pretty hard grasses, or terrain was needed, and
suggesting that their products will exactly what I had. Now all I had to
help hunters bag that gobbler (even do was check the field and slip into
though turkey cannot smell hunters). the small food plot undetected on
But, what are the chances without opening day.
the more traditional calls, decoys,
and other proven turkey gear, to decoys, and working birds with fields in the evening would be a The Payoff
actually harvest a wary spring gob- textbook strategies simply do not good staging area or travel corridor Slip in is just what I did. The
bler? work (especially calling shy, late- to check. Sure enough, two days whitetail knowledge and strate-
My 2017 spring turkey season season birds in high-pressure areas). prior to the opener, a couple toms gies stacked the odds heavily in
started and ended the same day. Of- If you’re like me, this is when our started showing up there picking for my favor, and just like whitetail, I
ficially, it was 45 minutes long, and whitetail knowledge can help seal buds and bugs. knew the first hunt “on stand” would
the only non-essential “gear” I used give me the best chance to release
The Setup
the deal without paying for a mas-
was a barely-adequate pop-up blind. ter’s in gobbleology (and required an arrow. Forty-five minutes later
On top of that, I filled my tag with gear). Here’s how. Just like with whitetail, a good a splash in the ditch just behind me
my bow, not my shotgun (a very funnel/pinch point and food source caught my attention, and I turned to
challenging task when you realize LESSONS - 2017 was my target to intercept turkey. lock eyes with a tom just two yards
how close, and how exact the shot The key here was I didn’t have from the blind. Slowly, he walked to
must be). Scouting to rely on calling them to where I the food plot in front of me, and af-
Even more interesting, I used My season didn’t look good wanted them; I was ambushing them ter what seemed like several minutes
standard whitetail tactics instead of two weeks prior to opener. With a where they already wanted to be. An (maybe 30 seconds), he fed behind
common turkey strategies, which couple properties to hunt, very few out of the way food plot near good some grass clumps which allowed
I have been using successfully for birds were showing in fields or the cover allowed the turkey to feel me to slowly turn on my camera,
years. Now, before I tell you about usual haunts. In fact, it appeared as comfortable showing up all times focus, and grab my bow. He was just
that, let me say that obviously calls, if they had mostly disappeared from of the day, when apparently the twelve yards away. As he stepped
decoys, and the like can work and the area. When glassing didn’t work, large field had not provided that this into a small opening in the grass,
help hunters harvest turkey. In fact, just like with whitetail, I switched year. A heavily used trail with fresh I drew, centered the pin above his
there is nothing more exciting (the to trail cameras for vital informa- turkey tracks led out of this plot leg, and released. The arrow blew
exception being whitetail in my tion. The target was a green, small into the larger field, and this was the through in an instant, and a couple
opinion), than talking with a big food plot between a stand of mature perfect spot for the blind, allowing flaps later, a nice Michigan gobbler
tom and fooling him to within range hardwoods and a picked cornfield. easy shooting distance to the plot was down for the count. Almost too
of your setup. So if that is what Catching a tom between roost areas and exit trails. quickly, my season was over, due to
you enjoy, by all means continue. (hardwoods, comparable to deer This is where crucial thought a little luck, and also some whitetail
However, from my experience, bedding areas), or where he would comes in, especially with a bow. At tactics that just might help put a tur-
many times calling gobblers, setting likely spend his afternoons, and the first, I had my blind overlooking the key in your fridge this year too!n

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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 35
Eastern gray squirrels:
More than an “ethical” meal!

W
ild game con-
noisseurs look
to our Eastern
Gray Squir-
rels as “ An
environmen-
tally responsible meal: a sustainable,
healthy, and local source of meat
with an appealing nutty flavor that
comes from a life spent stuffing
oneself on hickory nuts, walnuts,
and acorns.” I won’t dispute that.
It’s factual. I will however confess
I’ve never treated my taste buds to a
bowl of slowly simmering squirrel
stew.
Tree Top
History
I appreciate Eastern
Gray Squirrels (Sciurus
carolinensis) as amazing
creatures well-adapted to
life in our hardwood forests,
and the fringes of suburbia.
As a matter of fact gray
By Jonathan Schechter
squirrels
don’t just
survive in the midst of intense hu-
man activity and natural predation,
they thrive thanks to their ability to
adapt rapidly to changing situations
while maintaining a healthy degree
of wariness. It’s been that way for
hundreds of years, going back to a
time when gray squirrels by the hun-
dreds of thousands migrated through
tree tops in the vast unbroken
hardwood forests of eastern North
America that greeted early settlers
before they carved their open space
niches into the landscape.
Nuts Galore
Spend just a little time observ-
ing the behavior and antics
of these squirrels and you
quickly discover they are
far from boring. Last fall,
as winter approached,
gray squirrels shifted into The author noticed a gray squirrel setting up housekeeping in a
“overdrive” in their annual
ritual of hoarding nuts in
large bird house next to his house.
caches, one of their finely vival. With all that snow, it was a down. That’s because of their unique
tuned tricks wise move. As they scurried about physiological attributes: razor-sharp
of sur- sniffing the ground to draw down claws paired with swiveling ankle
on their caches, neighboring gray joints. Gray squirrels have super

Black Sheep
squirrels noted their behavior and flexible ankle joints that rotate their
often raided their stored nuts. Some hind feet 180 degrees enabling them
nuts remained buried all winter and to hang from small branches or de-

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rels survival ability has to do with
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red-tailed hawk posing perhaps the
greatest threat. Although gray squir-
rels can scamper along the ground
at 10-15 mph, if it’s crossing a field
it’s easy pickings for the red-tail.
Even with their elusive actions, gray
squirrels are captured by red foxes,
eastern coyotes, mink, weasels and
the common house cat—all masters
of ambush attacks. Their crepuscular
activities also make them vulnerable
to attacks by great horned owls and
barred owls, especially when they
loiter a bit too long at dusk.
Northern pike will swallow gray
squirrels too; a statement that may
seem odd. It’s not, for gray squir-
rels are excellent swimmers and will
cross rivers and small lakes mak-
ing them vulnerable to big bass and
northern pike.
Raccoon Rampage
This squirrel tale (and my
semi-obsession with their behavior)
actually had its start early in spring
when I noticed a gray squirrel set-
ting up housekeeping in a large bird
house next to my house. I added a
motion activated wildlife camera
Mom squirrel relocated the
remaining babies!
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about five feet from the opening
and surprising discoveries unfolded.
One night’s action-packed footage
confirmed what I suspected; rac-
coons will climb trees to prey on
baby squirrels. The camera captured
still images and videos of a rac-
coon reaching into the nest box.
One foray was successful and the
raccoon returned three times that
night with the video showing baby
squirrels transferred from the paw to
the mouth each time. Gray squir-
rels usually breed twice a year, late
winter and early summer. I’ll be
wondering how she does the next
time around. Mom squirrel moved
the survivors.
A Matter of Color
Then there is the matter of color.
“I saw a jet black squirrel!” That’s a The author’s trail camera captured still images and videos of a
comment I hear with increased fre- raccoon raiding the baby squirrels from the nest box on three suc-
quency and it surfaced again when cessful occasions.
I shared the tale of the raccoon with black raspberries. I tend to agree with his observation
a taste for squirrel. Gray squirrels John Burroughs was an early as I walk in my woods as summer
come in two major color phases; American naturalist and nature draws near and listen to their
gray and black. Black squirrels are essayist, active in the U.S. con- chatter.
actually eastern gray squirrels with servation movement. Tree hug- Jonathan Schechter, is the
a genetic condition called mela- gers like me know that. He would Oakland County Nature Education
nism. Melanastic gray squirrels are watch the antics of gray squirrels Writer and is preparing to return to
predominantly found in the north- at his Catskill Mountains home and South Manitou Island for his third
ern part of the species range where described them in his writings as, “tour of duty” as the lighthouse
some naturalists believe their dark- “Elegant creatures, so cleanly in its keeper for the National Park Ser-
ness may be better suited for heat habits, so graceful in its carriage.” vice. Email: oaknature@aol.comn
absorption in winter weather.
Smorgasbord of
Summer
The season of plenty has arrived
for the gray squirrel, for the diet
changes as the seasons change. The
season of abundant nut consump-
tion ended with the melting of the
snow until next autumn. In the early
days of spring squirrels switched
to the buds and flowers of oaks and
maple, and mushrooms, caterpillars,
bugs and grubs. And if they came
across accessible nestlings, those
baby birds become the meaty entrée.
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 37
The Essential...
Six Fly
Patterns!
“I
f you were stranded com), and pro-staffer for Scientific
on a sand bar island Anglers, ”Koz,” is about as knowl-
in the middle of edgeable about Northwest Michigan
your favorite river, fly fishing as they come. He guides
and only had six fly on rivers from the Manistee to the
patterns to choose U.P. Here are his six “go to” fly pat-
from, what terns:
would they be?” That’s the • Bear’s Iso/ Drake
inquiry I made to three Up Pattern: Koz recommends
North fly fishing aficionados you never be without an Iso
and here’s what those gents pattern because these flies A Dave’s Hopper fly pattern sits next to a live grasshopper it’s tied
had to share: hatch throughout the season to imitate. Patrick Bevier photo
Brian Kozminski, the and this is his favorite Drake: is another favorite mayfly Grillos: Koz mentioned this is a
Boyne City resident, owner imitation. A close second is imitation that is often absolutely favorite for, “Little brook trout
of True North Trout guide Dave’s Oh-So Iso. hammered by all of the Mitten aficionados.”
• Jerry As far as nymphs go Brian
By Patrick Bevier
service (www. State’s three riverine trout species-
truenorthtrout. Regan’s Hairy browns, brookies, and rainbows. tipped his fishing cap to Egan’s
• Purple Haze and Patriot Fly: Rainbow Warrior, Walt’s Sexy
Koz writes in his blog, “These flies Worm, and the Tungsten Surveyor.
are in the category of not replicating Ethan Winchester, the Director
Superior Game Ranch a certain insect per se, but curious
trout will inhale without inquiry.”
• Kelly Galloup’s Zoo Cougar:
of Operations at Boyne Outfitters
shop and guide service at Boyne
Mountain (boyneoutfitters.com), is
Route 3 Box 163 • Cornell, MI 49818 this popular streamer pattern is a an avid angler and a very creative
killer for coaxing big brown trout fly-tier. He plies his passion on
Incredible U.P. of Michigan out of their deepest lairs. Koz said, many northern streams and proposes
Hunting Opportunities “I like the Zoo Cougar in black, the following non-“old school” pat-
olive, or ginger.” terns–many that he has creatively
Private farmland in south Marquette • Tim Neal’s The Skopper: is modified–for his essential six:
County Michigan, fully guided a terrestrial insect imitating fly that, • Roberts Yellow Drake: in
“combines the crisscross legginess a wide variety of sizes-from #4
bow and firearm hunts in of the Chernobyl Ant and the double to #18-this dry fly covers a wide
hunting preserve for: Elk, buoyancy of stacked deer hair, simi- spectrum for matching many light
Whitetail Deer, Buffalo, Wild lar to the Skunk. Madsen’s Skunk is colored mayflies including sulfurs
Large Russian Boar a multi-purpose fly, it can be used as and hennies. Winchester said, “This
Boar, Red Stag & Fallow Deer. Hunts Available! a terrestrial or dunked and worked is likely one of my top flies through-
as a wet fly- subsurface.” out the year.”
• Hippie Stomper by Andrew • E’s Cryo Skunk: this is
Trophy Elk,
Trophy Red Stag & FISH FOR STOCKING
Trout, Bass, Pike, Walleyes, Catfish, Pan Fish,
Trophy Fallow Deer Minnows for Fast Fish Growth, Hybrid Bluegills.
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Call (906) 238-4482 or
Imlay City Fish Farms, Inc.
(906) 630-1617 Fish Consultants
1442 N. Summers Rd., Imlay City, Michigan 48444
for more information and reservations. Phone: (810) 724-2185
www.superiorgameranch.com www.ImlayCityFishFarm.com
38 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
Ethan’s variation on the Madsen
Skunk pattern and is a wet variety
with more flash due to its synthetic
components. You can purchase
through Catch Fly Fishing dealers
including Boyne Outfitters.
• McClain’s Drake aka Sweat-
er Fly: Ethan ties a variation of this
that floats higher and has a better
profile for a dunk.
• Lynch’s Drunk & Disorderly
Streamer: in burnt orange. Ethan
says, “It’s easily one of the most
responsive articulated streamers
available!”
• Lynch’s White Bellied
Mouse: this is a great fly for trophy
brown trout at night.
• Chubby Chernobyl in
purple: Winchester said, “This is a
great late season fly for headwaters
creekin’ for brook trout.”
Josh Greenberg, the personable
and talented owner of the iconic Brian Kozminski landed this mammoth brown trout on the Upper Manistee River using a Zoo Cougar
Gates Au Sable Lodge near Gray- streamer. Brian Kozminski photo
ling (gateslodge.com) has been fish- • Parachute Patriot Fly: (regu- broad-shouldered brown trout, you never get stranded on a sand bar
ing all branches of the storied river lar and purple varieties) : Greenberg and rascally rainbow trout using a island on your favorite river. If you
and birthplace of Trout Unlimited recommended using the regular Dave’s Hopper on streams from the do, however, I hope you’ve stocked
for many years. When posed with patriot dry fly on hot summer days Maple to the Au Sable. your fly box with some of these
the query about his “essential six” and the purple in May at all times of So, avid fly anglers, I hope that killer patterns!n
here’s what he offered: the day.
• Borcher’s Parachute: Green- • Bead-Head Pheasant Tail:
berg shared, “Just a killer general This is a terrific all-purpose nymph
‘don’t know what else to fish with’ pattern with plenty of sink and flash
dry fly.” and can be used all year to entice
• Rusty’s White Knot: a large trout feeding beneath the surface.
mayfly imitation that is the product • Circus Peanut: This is a big,
of the vise-artistry of the late, great showy streamer that, according to
Rusty Gates. The founding father of Greenberg, “can be fished at a num-
the Anglers of the Au Sable orga- ber of different speeds and depths,
nization tied this pattern to imitate in big water or in small water.”
Isonychia species mayflies that are Though I don’t pretend to be in
a favorite of large trout. Greenberg the same league as these anglers, I
said, “It’s June, it’s 7 p.m., this is would add one fly to the list. That
what I’m fishing with!” would be the Dave’s Hopper. This is
• Adams Parachute: This is a a winning choice when late sum-
catch-all mayfly-imitating dry fly. mer trout food consists largely of
Josh added, “This is a great morning land dwelling “terrestrial” insects
and daytime fly throughout much of that have been blown into the water.
the season.” I’ve caught bodacious brook trout,

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FISHING CHARTERS
Canadian water Lake Erie
June 2 - July 15 – Leamington
Walleye
July 15 - August 10 – Wheatly
Steelhead – Walleye
35-45 minutes from Ambassador Bridge
COME FISH THE PORTS PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT!
Captain Brad Haggitt
greenheadfishingcharters.com 519-919-7751
Also Lake St. Clair - Muskie - August 10 - November
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 39
 Spring fishing is the absolute “bomb” in Michigan...By John Bergsma
Early Angling Options
Marquette County
After 40-plus inches of snow in
April and a long cold winter, open
water spring fishing is running
a little late this season. But with
warmer temperatures in the forecast,
the remaining ice and snow won’t
last long. Spring fishing in Mar-
quette is great, as it’s accessible to
all fishermen either from the beach-
es, breakwalls, river mouths or by
boat. Fish are searching for bait and
the elusive warm pockets of water,
so fishing near breakwalls and rock
islands is a good bet. As the sun
heats up the rocks, it helps warm the
water around them quicker than in
the open water.
The Chocolay, Carp, and Dead
river mouths are always worth a
shot during the spring as well. Many
days, the best bite early in the year
is well after sunrise, so don’t quit
too early! Once the sun gets higher
in the sky, it seems to wake those
fish up in the shallow, cold water.
Brown trout, steelhead, lake trout,
king and coho salmon can all be
with your host
n B e r g sm a
Jo h Now on...
Fox Sports Detroit • Sundays 7am
Visit our website and find out about . . .
• Destinations • Fishing Reports •
• Our Show • Cooks Corner •
40 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
caught inside harbor walls during
the month of May. Trolling the 5-15
foot depths just off the beach pulling
body baits and mini spoons behind
planer boards is the best plan for
browns, as well as some coho.
In waters 15 to 50 feet is where
I spend the most time in May/June.
Flatlines, 1-3 colors of lead core,
and my absolute favorite, Slide Div-
ers, will take the most fish early in
the season. FINN spoons and small
Moonshine’s are my best producers
on most days behind the divers, and
Brads Baits and jointed Rapalas on
the boards. Orange and red are hard
colors to beat in the shallow water.
Want an awesome charter, get
ahold of my friend and captain.
Captain John Tomczyk at: Day-
breakchartersmqt@gmail.com or
call (906) 250-1052
Manistee County
It’s that time of year! As the
waters around Manistee warm up
the itch for big lake fishing grows
Any spring fishing ar ticle would be incomplete without at least a stronger. In April, browns are being
mention of the awesome crappie and panfishing. caught along the coastline along
with lake trout and occasionally we
will pick up a salmon or a steelhead.
After reviewing the state stocking
plants over the last few years, we
feel hopeful that this summer will
produce some full coolers of fish.
The month of May has us work-
ing a little farther out, and June will
find us working the mid-depths for
lake trout and kings. Throughout
the summer we will progress to the
shelf looking for chinook salmon. I
spent a morning with Tilmann Out-
fitters that had us leaving the dock
before dawn. After a short boat ride,
which is typical out of Manistee, the
set-up process quickly begins. The
captain had us running as many as
fourteen lines, and things can hap-
pen quickly.
Setting our deep lines first
often finds us those first morning
king salmon. Drags screaming and
people yelling with excitement is the
epitome of a day on the water with
Capt. Michael Tilmann. As the day
continues with the good, bad and
the indifferent; laughs, stories and
camaraderie bring new clients into a
circle of friendship.
Having refreshment at the fish
cleaning stations and reminiscing
about the day, we find ourselves
looking to find another date to dupli-
cate the experience.
For more information on a great
day on the water in Manistee, con-
tact Capt. Michael Tilmann at: 231-
510-9345 or check us out online at:
www.tilmannoutfitters.com
Traverse City Region
Fish are becoming very ac-
tive now that May and warmer
temperatures have finally arrived.
Opportunities abound in the beauti-
ful Traverse City area; this is the
time of year when I concentrate on
routes and stops. Bass are now leav-
ing wintering zones and migrating
to spawning areas. I try to mentally
envision the most logical routes they
will be using. Bass are inherently
edge oriented, so they will com-
monly use breaklines to reach their
destination. While in route, they
will have to stop on points, corners,
and newly emerging grass. Places
like this can hold four or five fish,
wolfpacks or even schools of fish.
This can be some of the best fishing
of the year.
I typically use rip baits and soft
plastics as the go-to baits early. The
end of this month will put them on
beds where tubes or slow-moving
creature baits placed on or around
the bed is deadly for getting fish
to bite. Please remember to imme-
diately release these fish so future
generations can enjoy them also.
This entire scenario will repeat itself
in June on larger bodies of water,
have fun! If a great smallmouth
charter is in your future, get ahold of
my friend Captain Tony De Filippo
at Up North Smallmouth Charters or
call 231-642-0764
Lakes Cadillac, Mitchell,
Houghton & Missauke
Any spring fishing article would
be incomplete without at least a
mention of the awesome crappie and
panfishing on these four gems. The
crappie bite starts as soon as the ice
leaves the lakes. The fish will come
right up into the shoreline canals,
marinas and main-lake reeds or
weedbeds. I absolutely love to catch
these great eating fish. Nothing fan-
cy is needed. Any rod/reel with light
line will do. I like to suspend small
plastics below a casting bobber and
slowly retrieve this with a series of
The Traverse area is becoming a
great smallmouth destination.
twitches and long pauses. If the fish
are “on” no bait is necessary.
Please be responsible as these
fish can be destroyed by over-har-
vesting only the big ones. The gills
usually are a few weeks behind the
crappie, and will frequent the exact
same areas and are very susceptible
to the same types of presentations.
This can be a great day on the water
for kids and parents alike.
Conclusion
Spring is the absolute “bomb”
in Michigan. There’s a ton of great
fishing from great lakes to inland
lakes; from salmon and trout to pan-
fish. Join me in experiencing this
awesome time of the year. Check
out our updated fishing reports
at: www.fishermansdigest.com or
watch the TV show, Fox Sports
Detroit Sunday at 7 a.m.n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 41
Between Casts:
On the river in spring...
I
t could
have been By Tom Carney The guide noticed
some obstacles we
any Wes-
co station in any town in
west Michigan. He could
have been any guide. It
could have been any nine and a half
hour trip on any river.
Like Nick Adams in “The Big Two-
Hearted River,” as I stepped from
the boat launch into the stern of the
drift boat I felt all the old feeling.
It had been too long.
With our guide at the oars ex-
pertly maneuvering the boat through
the tree limbs and branches turned
into low hangers because of the
high water level, I just drifted along
and reacquainted myself with those
old feelings, sometimes with eyes
closed.
The calm, tinkling drips from the
oars as the guide pushed them out of
the water in preparation for the next
stroke. Songbirds getting in some of
their first chirps of the spring. The
gurgling of a rapids so low and brief
it lasted less than two boat lengths.
But that pleasant, welcome guttural
chant stirred something soul-deep
I would have worried I’d lost had I
even remembered to think about it
for the past few years.
The sun offered some promise
but took its time warming up to
the idea. Until it came around, the
disposable hand and foot warm-
ers proved to be boon companions,
indeed. No matter what conditions
would be when this clear, sunny
morning turned into a clear, sunny
afternoon, it had been a good idea to
slip into my long john bottoms at the
Wesco station while waiting for the
guide to arrive. And it was a good
idea to wear that fleece balaclava.
You can always take it off if you get
too hot – but you can’t do anything
when your face freezes and you’ve
left it at home.
John Nor thrup shows off his dandy “chromer” steelhead, one of
five he hooked on a recent river float.
42 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
otherwise would not
have encountered at normal water
levels. A couple times, those low
branches forced the three of us to
engage in a ballet of teamwork to
prevent slapped cheeks or poked
ears.
“We don’t have that problem
when the water is low,” said the
guide, Alex.
He also noted that some runs
easily navigated in lower water
conditions might be colluding with
the rocks they now covered to give
us a hard time.
“We might get bumped a couple
of times here.”
The water. The flowing water.
Off the oars. Slapping the sides of
the boat as it butter-knifed its way
downstream. The driblets of mini-
waterfalls as the latest snowmelt
trickled from the hillsides to the
riverbank. The water that transport-
ed us from one locale of potential
adventure to the next. The old friend
I’d long ignored.
Certainly much too young to be
a baby boomer, Alex nevertheless
groused like an old timer when we
came upon a trio of twentysome-
things who had been out for an hour
and complained the fishing was
“no good” because they had only
caught five steelhead – one of which
dangled from a rope tied to their
boat.
“They don’t get it,” he said.
“Five fish in an hour is a tremendous
day. What more do they want?”
A few minutes downstream of
that group, Alex dropped the anchor
and set us up to fish one of his fa-
vorite spots.
Seated in the stern, I employed
the time-honored “chuck and duck”
technique for seeking steelhead near
the bottoms of the runs and holes,
As Ernest Hemingway wrote, a big trout can help a fisherman feel “all the
old feelings.” Photos cour tesy of Alex Forsberg, www.riverninjaoutfitters.com
which, understandably with the high to the logs! Keep pressure on that
water, were deeper and flowed faster fish! Keep the rod tip up!”
than usual. Something changed, and before I
In the bow, John was trying a could figure out what, John coached,
technique about which he wanted “Reel, Tom! Reel! She’s coming this
to learn more: float fishing with an way.”
extra-long rod. Alex explained how Easier said than done, for I am a
the use of the float allows an an- left-handed caster and the tackle was
gler to employ a much longer drift set up for a left-handed reeler. So I
through a hot spot than chucking had to switch hands whenever it was
and ducking does. And for awhile, time to reel. As the fish frantically
there on the river in spring, because fought, Alex, John or both would
he teaches as much as he ties on shout encouragement, “Get the rod
new flies or pilots the boat to new tip up!” or “Don’t put that other
spots, Alex introduced geometric hand so far up the rod; you’ll break
principles into the discussion. He it!” or “Keep your hand off the bot-
explained how a longer rod increas- tom of the reel!”
es the radius of the imaginary circle Fueled by the fear of losing the
with the angler at its midpoint and fish after all the energy Alex and
thus gives him better control over John were expending to help me, I
the line by positioning the rod tip dutifully obeyed … and hung on for
almost directly above it. the ride.
Anchored there, suspended in She fought. Oh, she fought.
place as the river flowed past, with Harder than any fish I had ever
the occasional chirp, pop or plop of caught.
our gear, we made just enough noise Who knows how long it took?
to prove we were actually doing I’m thinking maybe eight minutes
something. A calm rhythm set in of excitement. It was probably only
as John would cast and I’d follow. two. But by god, I felt all the old
He’d wait for me to finish my drift feeling.
then cast again. The boat rocked. Got her to the net. Alex helped
The sun warmed things up enough me hold her for photos then returned
that by 9:30 each of us had removed her to the water.
our top layer of warm clothing. No Awestruck, I extolled, “That’s
one spoke. Until …“Uh oh!” the most beautiful fish I’ve ever
“You got a fish?” caught.”
“I think so.” And it was done.
At this point, the quietude Moments later, my sensibilities
ceased. in mid-Whew, John spoke up.
“Keep that rod tip up,” Alex “What do we have here?” He’s
coached. “That’s a nice fish.” understated like that.
With that, he hopped into the “Fish on!” Alex said, jumping
river with the landing net and high- into action.
tailed it about 40 yards downstream John’s the best outdoorsman
to direct the show from there. About I know, and in no time with little
50 yards away a logjam offered fanfare he led the beautiful chrome
refuge to the big, aggressive female fish to the net.
steelhead heading in its direction. We each hooked and lost one
Alex continued coaching: “Ro- more fish in that run, and three more
tate yourself so the rod is pointing later in the afternoon.
toward the center of the stream! What a day to deposit in the
We’ve got to keep her from getting bank of all the old feelings.n
 Made by John
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 43

Modern tactics
for structure
loving walleyes
W
alleye are a spe-
cies that routinely
finds food, cover
and comfort on the
bottom. No one
disputes that wall-
eye thrive on the bottom. Arguably
the most adaptive species of game
fish found in the North America,
the walleye thrives in rivers, natural
lakes, reservoirs and even in the
Great Lakes.
Traditionally
Turn back the hands of
time a few decades and tra-
dition dictates that walleye
anglers attack these bottom
loving fish using classic
structure fishing presenta-
tions. Classic fishing strate-
gies like the slip sinker rig
introduced by the Lindner
brothers have produced
countless
walleye since By Mark Romanack
this rig became
popular in the late 60s. Also, the
Invasive species and the environ-
mental changes they have forced
have fish like this walleye spending
more and more time seeking food
on the bottom. Targeting structure
is not new for walleye fishermen,
but some of the new technology
that makes this approach lights out
for walleye is notewor thy.
44 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
always popular bottom bouncer and
spinner rig ranks high as another
presentation that is ideally suited to
fishing walleye on structure.
Walleye fishermen who are
skilled at these bottom hugging
presentations will find they produce
as many walleye today as they did
decades ago. Tradition runs deep
in fishing, but sometimes an angler
has to break with tradition in order
to expand the sport and also their
knowledge of how to catch walleye.
Environmental
Changes
Back in the days when
slip sinker rigging was
new to the sport of walleye
fishing, the bodies of water
where walleye abounded
were different. These days
environmental conditions
have changed
and so have the
walleye that
roam these fisheries.
A multitude of invasive spe-
cies have changed walleye fishing
forever. An invasive species is a
plant or animal that is not native to
a particular body of water. Here in
the great state of Michigan the list
of invasive species reads like novel!
A host of both plant and animal in-
vasive species now call Michigan’s
rivers, lakes, Great Lakes Connect-
ing Waters and the open waters of
the Great Lakes home.
As is typical of invasive spe-
cies, these invaders quickly find a
niche and their populations literally
explode. When invasive species get
established they often out-compete
native species and in many cases
end up tipping the balance of nature.
The environmental changes that
invasive species have forced are of-
ten thought of as a potential disaster
to fishing as we know it. The reality
is that invasive species shuffle the
deck and force native species to find
new and different ways to adapt to
their environments.
Water Clarity and
Forage Changes
Two tiny mollusks known as
the zebra and quagga mussel have
forever changed fishing and not just
in the Great Lakes. These siphon
feeders have hitchhiked their way
Structure fishing doesn’t just produce walleye, it produces quality fish like
this one caught on an oversized jig and paddle-style soft plastic.
to just about every major body of
water in Michigan.
It’s hard to imagine, but the ze-
bra and quagga mussel have literally
changed the food web by siphon-
ing staggering amounts of plankton
from the water. As plankton levels
drop, water clarity improves and
forage fish that depend on plankton
as their primary food in turn strug-
gle to find enough to eat.
Ultimately the population of
plankton feeders like gizzard shad,
alewife and emerald shiners are
gradually declining due to this
system-wide reduction in plankton.
The reduction of these important
forage species has forced primary
predators walleye to look elsewhere
for food.
Classic benthic species includ-
ing spot-tail shiners and sculpin
have found themselves increasingly
the target of hungry walleye. A third
species that is ironically also an
invasive known as the round goby is
becoming more and more abundant
and potentially a critical food source
for walleye.
Puzzle Pieces
When you put together these
pieces of the food web puzzle, it
becomes increasingly obvious that
walleye are adapting by spending
more time hunting for forage on the
bottom. Bottom species including
spot-tails, sculpin and mussel eating
round goby are increasingly turning
up in the stomach of hungry wall-
eye.
In turn, walleye anglers who for
decades spent the majority of their
time targeting primarily “suspended
walleye” are faced with a dilemma.
As pelagic forage species decline,
walleye anglers now find themselves
forced to return to their structure
fishing roots.
Not So Quick
The moral of this story isn’t as
simple as saying; the best way to
catch walleye is by fishing struc-
ture. While walleye are spending
more time on the bottom foraging
for food, the environmental condi-
tions on the bottom today are vastly
different than they were when the
Linder brothers introduced the slip
sinker rig.
Clearer water makes for more
challenging fishing conditions. Also,
in clear water environments walleye
tend to roam more, visiting a multi-
tude of favorite hunting grounds in
the course of a day.
In response, walleye anglers
need to also be more aggressive and
mobile in terms of how they ap-
proach structure fishing.
Technology Matters
As is often the case, technology
levels the playing field. Back when
Al and Ron Lindner first introduced
the Lindy Rig, they were fishing
from small tiller controlled boats
and using flasher style sonar units to
find structure and fish.
By modern standards these
angling pioneers were handicapped
seriously in their ability to find and
stay on fish. Modern tools of the
trade such as LCR (Liquid Crys-
tal Readout) sonar, structure scan

sonar, GPS navigation and wireless
auto-pilot electric motors are game
changers when it comes to find-
ing and targeting structure loving
walleye.
Thanks to sonar advancements
like “chirp” that improves target
separation it is now possible to mark
walleyes, even fish belly to bottom,
like never before. Chirp is a multi-
signal transducer frequency that im-
proves target separation compared
to traditional broad beam sonar.
Structure scan and also side im-
aging are also useful modern tools
for not only creating more detailed
pictures of the underwater environ-
ment, but also finding fish before
those fish have been spooked by the
presence of the boat.
Thanks to these sophisticated
sonar units, anglers can not only
better find structure and also fish,
but it’s possible to literally identify
“spots on the spot” that hold the best
potential for success. Thanks to GPS
technology, these spots on the spot
can be saved as permanent way-
points that allow anglers to return to
productive fishing waters again and
again.
Not only has GPS navigation
and mapping changed the face of
fish finding, new refinements in
mapping such as structure highlight-
ing further help anglers focus on the
best fishing spots. Say for example
you’re fishing a reef structure that
tops out in about eight feet of water
and walleye are using the top of
this cover. By simply referring to
the mapping page on my Lowrance
Carbon unit I can identify other
similar reefs and color highlight the
most productive water (in this case
the 8-10 foot depths) in an effort
to concentrate my fishing effort on
water that has the best likelihood of
producing fish.
Even before I leave the dock, I
can use this unique structure high-
lighting technology to identify the
specific pieces of structure I want to
fish on any given day.
All this unique structure and fish
finding technology is amazing, but it
gets better. Finding fish is one thing.
Catching a few is another, but the
real chore in walleye fishing comes
in the form of boat control.
When fishing isolated bottom
structure, boat control is critically
important. In effect, targeting wall-
eye on structure is about positioning
the boat so anglers can target fish
without the boat spooking those
fish. Traditionalists fish structure out
of the back of their boat. Modern
anglers take a different approach.
Wireless bow mounted auto-
pilot style electric motors make all
the difference for anglers who are
fishing precise bottom structure.
The MotorGuide Xi5 and also Xi3
models of electric motors use GPS
technology to enable anglers to
hover the boat in one particular spot.
Known as the “anchor mode” by
literally pushing one button on the
key fob or on the foot control, the
boat can be essentially hovered in
one spot. This unique electric motor
feature uses Pinpoint GPS technol-
ogy to sense movement of the boat
caused by current or wind and com-
pensates, keeping the boat literally
within four feet of one specific spot.
Another useful feature known
as “jog” allows the boat position to
be moved in any direction five feet.
With one push of a button, the boat
position jogs to help place the boat
in the perfect position for casting.
Tackle Changers
Historically, structure fishermen
have used live bait rigs to target
walleye. A more modern approach
is to use a host of hard baits and soft
plastics to tempt walleye.
Glide baits such as the Rapala
Jigging Rap, Moonshine Shiver
Minnow and the Northland Tackle
Puppet Minnow are cast into posi-
tion and allowed to sink to bottom.
By reeling up the slack and snap-
ping the rod tip these lures come to
life darting and then gliding back to
bottom.
Glide baits were developed for
ice fishing, but they work exception-
ally well for open water structure
fishing applications. The darting
action generates reaction strikes that
are surprisingly aggressive.
Blade baits such as the Hed-
don Sonar, Reef Runner Cicada or
the Captain Jay’s are another great
option for casting to walleye feed-
ing on structure. Make a long cast
and allow the blade bait to sink to
bottom. Reel up the slack line and
lift the rod tip sharply, pulling the
blade bait forward and bringing the
bait’s vibration to life. Swimming
these baits near bottom and paus-
ing to allow the bait to crash bottom
Historically, structure fishermen after walleye worked off
the back of their boat using back-trolling methods. Modern
technology such as Pinpoint GPS electric motors, Chirp
Sonar and Structure Scan Sonar has lead serious walleye
anglers to take up shop on the bow of their boats. In this
situation the author has his boat positioned using the
Anchor Mode on his electric motor so he can more easily
cast to walleye feeding on top of classic rock structure.
Mark Romanack photos
periodically works the best. bunching up the reel spool. This
A third class of hard bait known simple step helps anglers get the
as lipless crankbaits are another most from super braids.
great way to target walleye on struc- Berkley’s Nanofil is without
ture. The famous Bill Lewis Rattle question the super line of choice for
Trap got the lipless bait craze started making long casts without giving
decades ago. These days other great up any sensitivity. Adding a 24 inch
lipless baits include the Rapala Rip- length of 10 to 12 pound test fluo-
pin’ Rap, Cotton Cordell Spot and rocarbon leader finishes up the ideal
Strike King Red Eye Shad. These spinning rig for casting to structure
lures are also best fished by making loving walleye.
a long cast and allowing the bait to
sink to bottom. A slow and steady Run and Gun
retrieve that keeps the lipless bait The final piece of this structure
in contact with the bottom produces fishing pie can be summed up as
best. being willing to move, move again
Jigs dressed with soft plastic and move more often. Not every
swimbait bodies are yet another piece of structure that looks good on
great way to target walleye on struc- a mapping unit is going to actually
ture. Depending on how deep the be holding fish. Also, because some
fish are found 1/4, 3/8 or 1/2 ounce of the best fish holding real estate
jigs are the most common size. Jigs might be rather small, many great
suitable for fishing swimbait bod- spots only hold a few fish.
ies need to be equipped with extra The only logical strategy boils
wide gap hooks (3/0 to 4/0) and also down to being willing to set up a
barbed collars that hold the plastic milk run of potential fish holding
in place on the hook shaft. spots and keep moving in an ef-
Good jigs for this work include fort to find active fish. Of course,
the Bait Rigs Long Shank Slo-Poke spots that produce fish should be
and Yakima Drum Roller. Both of saved as a permanent waypoint. It’s
these jigs readily accept 3, 4 and also a good idea to take the time to
5 inch swimbaits. Paddletail style name productive spots for future
plastics are one of the best choices reference. Taking the simple step of
for swimming jigs over the top naming spots on the GPS makes it
of walleye structure. The Z-Man much easier to remember important
PaddleZ, Yum Money Minnow and fishing details associated with vari-
Strike King KVD Swim-n-Shiner ous spots.
are examples of the types of soft
plastics that work well when cast on Summing It Up
jigs. The modern walleye angler is
much better equipped to target wall-
Rods/Reels/Lines eye on structure than our forefathers
All of these hard and soft baits who pioneered the art of structure
are best fished with a seven foot to fishing. Being successful is about
seven and a half foot medium ac- understanding how environmental
tion spinning combination. A good changes have forced walleye to
matching spinning reel is something forage in different ways. It’s just as
in the 3000 or 3500 size loaded important to embrace new technol-
about half way with monofila- ogy that makes it easier to find fish,
ment line as a backing line and top return to productive structure and
dressed with 100 yards of 10 pound also to maximize boat control. After
test super braid. Using monofila- all, finding fish is pointless if you
ment backing saves money and it can’t keep the boat in position to
helps to keep super braids from catch them.n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 45
46 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 47
46 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 47
 Black Powder Shooting Sports...

A memorable moment lives on

“I
stopped in Law- immediate attention. With hindsight
renceburg (Indi- the humorous side of a given set of
ana),” a gentleman circumstances overpowers the nega-
said with a big tive aspects, especially in the black
grin on his face. “A guy pulled up powder shooting sports.
alongside my pickup and hollered, For anonymity sake, let’s name
‘Ya know you’re draggin’ a cooler this noted muzzleloading enthusiast
behind ya?’ The cooler was okay “Ted.” Laughs and chuckles punctu-
and I still use it, but my shooting ated Ted’s recollection of the first
box was gone…” few hours after his arrival at a Fall
Cherished memories and magi- National Championship Shoot, held
cal moments abound in the black on the home grounds of the National
powder shooting sports. Over the Muzzle Loading Rifle Association in
years those memories Friendship, Indiana. “Stuff
start to pile up, sometimes like that is embarrassing,”
taking on mythical and/or he continued, “but you
legendary status as they are might as well own it, be-
told and retold to friends cause enough people know
and acquaintances. about it anyway.
And then again, there “I got to Friendship,
are happenstances that be- set my camper up and went
come noteworthy because to town to buy groceries.
they emphasize a life Somehow or other, Two dry-balls impaled on a brass ball puller adorned the bow of a bright
lesson that highlights
the frail, somewhat
By Dennis Neely my tailgate came
open. I was tired and
red ribbon awarded to “David” at Friendship, Indiana. “I wore the neck-
lace with pride, it’s all par t of shooting a muzzle loader,” David said with
capricious nature of human ex- didn’t notice it. When I turned the a big grin. “Their time is coming…” Wild River tree photo
istence. When the consequences corner onto US-50 at Dillsboro, the
box slid out the back. My cooler slid all the way to Lawrenceburg, which looked out for neighbors. As in “the
of a simple oversight, an outright
was probably 12 miles. old days,” today’s muzzleloading
blunder or perhaps an unforeseen out, too, but that was empty and on
“It was just a great big tackle competitors look out for each other.
accident occur, the seriousness of a rope. I didn’t want it blowing out
box, nothing fancy. It held three When a shooter runs out of 3Fg
the situation seizes an individual’s of the open truck bed. I dragged it
leather shot pouches, a couple of powder, misplaces a .36-caliber jag
powder horns, my belt bag, extra or suffers some other misfortune,
Open Mon thru Fri powder and my cleaning supplies. I those around him or her rummage
9am-7pm • Sat 9am-6pm actually have two big tackle boxes, through their shooting boxes, shot
Sun 9am-4pm one for the guns that shoot 2Fg pouches or vehicles in hopes of
1380 N. Cedar black powder and one for those that meeting the immediate need.
(517) 699-0597 use 3Fg. I don’t use a shooting box Good-natured kidding and the
on the line. I prefer to shoot out of occasional practical joke are hall-
(½ Mile South of Holt, 127 to
Cedar St. exit, North 2 Miles) the pouch. marks of the black powder shooting
“I go to Friendship to visit and sports, too. A favorite powder horn,
Over 2,000 Guns in Stock see people, not just shoot. The 2Fg a beat-up spotting scope or a cloth
INDOOR GUN RANGE box was still in the back end, so bag of steel tent stakes left at home
Hand Guns, Long Guns, Muzzleloading, I shot the smoothbore a lot. Bob command one level of ribbing. A
Reloading Supplies, Ammo, Archery & Accessories Roller found the lost box. He lives forgotten rifle, pistol or smoothbore
• CASH FOR USED GUNS • INDOOR GUN RANGE in West Virginia, and he wanted to is often met with a loaner arm, but
• GUNS, NEW & USED • CCW COURSE • GUN SAFES (In Stock) find the proper owner. He grilled me woe be it to the borrower if he or
Full Line of Gunsmithing • NRA Certified Instructors on what was inside, and even tested she posts a score that bests that of
me by asking me to describe stuff the owner. The “neighbor looking
Full Line Archery & Fishing Tackle • Live Bait & Tackle Available that wasn’t there. I told him, ‘Nope, out for neighbor doctrine” is not
it didn’t have that.’ I gave him a pan always serious in nature.
2018 GUN & KNIFE SHOWS primer for finding it,” Ted said. Loading a patched round ball
For information call (517) 676-4160 Local, state and national black without first dumping the black
powder charge down the barrel is
May 19-20 . . . . . . . 300 Tables . . . . . . . . . Cheboygan July 21-22 . . . . . . . 900 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Novi
powder shooting organizations
celebrate and preserve America’s known as a “dry-ball.” Although
May 26-27 . . . . . . . 275 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . Harrison July 28-29 . . . . . . . 250 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . Jackson rich muzzleloading heritage. Such embarrassing, this happens to ev-
eryone, but sometimes not without
June 2-3 . . . . . . . . 900 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Novi Aug. 4-5 . . . . . . . . . 700 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . Birch Run
dedication provides strong sup-
port for the Second Amendment by jovial retribution. Some years ago
June 23-24 . . . . . . 450 Tables . . . . . . . Grand Rapids Aug. 11-12 . . . . . . . 350 Tables . . . . . . . . . . Port Huron word, deed and through the shooting a respected bench shooter, long-
time range officer and black powder
Jun. 29-Jul. 1 . . . . . 440 Tables . . . . . . Lansing/Mason Aug. 18-19 . . . . . . . 400 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . Monroe
games offered at match competi-
tions. shooting instructor dry-balled. We’ll
July 14-15 . . . . . . . 250 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . Cadillac Aug. 25-26 . . . . . . . 350 Tables . . . Detroit/Brownstown Safety is first and foremost with call him “David.”
Sport Shows Promotions, INC. a strong emphasis on enjoyable, “I dry-balled in Friendship, in
www.migunshows.com • sportshows@gmail.com family fun running a close second. early June,” David later said. “Actu-
P.O. Box 404 • Mason, MI 48854 A deep sense of camaraderie typi- ally, I dry-balled seven times in one
Ph: (517) 676-4160 • Fax: (517) 676-6824 fies the muzzleloading community. day. I was helping ‘Miss Sandy’
Frankenmuth Jackson
Credit Union Manistee Little River Casino ORS Field House Port Huron
500 Thomas Edison Pkwy
Lansing/Mason Ingham
County Fairgrounds
Both shooters and spectators share a with several problems and lost track
Event Center Intersection
I-75 @ Exit 136 US.31 & M-22
3055 Shirley Drive
Jackson, MI
Blue Water Convention Center 700 E. Ash common interest in the front-loading of my loading sequence. I should’ve
Detroit/Brownstown
Cheboygan Ice Arena Dort Federal Event Cntr. Cadillac: Wexford Arena Brownstown Sport Center Novi
Suburban Collection Showplace
arms, accoutrements and historical just stopped shooting. Rick Repovsh
3501 Lapeer Rd.
480 Cleveland
Flint, MI 48503 131 & 13th St. 20192 Telegraph Rd. 46100 Grand River traditions associated with the daily helped me pull the balls and he kept
Monroe County Alpena (New Location) Kalamazoo County Grand Rapids
Fairgrounds 751 Woodward Ave. Expo Center 4 Mile Rd Showplace
Harrison
Clare County Fairgrounds
lives of our forefathers. them. Everyone knows what’s going
MBT Expo Center Alpena, MI 49207 2900 Lake St. 1025 Four Mile Rd. N.W. Grand Rapids 418 Fairlane Two centuries ago neighbors to happen when they keep ’em.”
48 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
 Repovsh located a bright red rib-
bon and fashioned a necklace, com-
plete with a large bow for the sacred
dry-balls. “They presented the
necklace to me at a ceremony that
evening. It was all pre-planned, but
no one got with me,” David added
with a hearty chuckle. Owning the
moment, he wore the necklace for
the rest of the shoot.
Legendary tales surround Mike
Fink, a keelboat captain from the
early 19th century. Fink was a crack
rifle shot. A relative described how
Fink would have his wife hold a tin
cup filled with whiskey on her head,
which he shot a bullet through.
A paper target with a bottle
pouring into a tin cup that rests on a
stump recreates this unthinkable feat
for novelty matches. A few years
back, the Jerry Boyer Memorial
Shoot, held in Marlette, Michigan,
featured another safe alternative: a
steel silhouette of a man’s upper tor-
Par ticipants at the “Chipmunk Gath-
ering,” a traditional black powder
squirrel hunting camp near West
Branch, got to swapping stories
after a sunny morning spent in the
woods. “Did you see my new ‘Mike
Fink’ hat pin?” Mar ty asked.” Wild
River tree photo
so with a resettable red steel square
in the appropriate place. As a safety
precaution, the match sponsor noted
the prohibitive nature of the target
before the shooters took the line.
The second competitor’s round
ball left a distinctive silver splat-
ter below Mike’s hairline—and the
“tin cup” fell. Instantaneous kidding
erupted.
“I knocked the cup off,” “Mar-
ty,” protested. That couldn’t be his
real name, could it?
“But Mike’s not happy. He’s
real mad and wants 10 points de-
ducted from your score,” a waiting
shooter replied.
“So, do I get to shoot it over?”
“Why don’t you ask Mike about At the awards ceremony on the Max Vickery Primitive Range, “Rebecca” re-
that?” the range officer quipped as ceived the framed target with the hole made by her ramrod tip in the upper
left corner. The target hung in the blockhouse for many years. “I did hit the
he wrote the deduction on Marty’s target,” she said with an infectious smile.” Rebecca Waterman photo
score card. The ribbing continued as
the other marksmen either hit the tin shot well, that last target was really range officer when she discovered
cup or missed high. a good one.’ Linda Trammel took the broken rod. “It was a moment
Several weeks later a small that target, put it in a frame and they of ‘what not to do.’ My shooting is
package arrived for Marty. A special presented it to me. A lot of people always about safety first and then
hat pin hid in the wrapping paper. It saw it before I did, and there was a having fun. That gave me a valuable
seems that John Beard fashioned a lot of kidding and laughs,” Rebecca safety lesson to share with others. If
lookalike Mike Fink target compete said after noting the broken brass tip you can’t laugh at yourself, as they
with a bullet hole in the forehead, passed through the target over and say.” And a memorable moment
enshrining that wayward shot for to the left of the tin cup. lives on…
years to come. Being a strong advocate for Give the black powder shooting
A backer board held eight Mike black powder range safety, Rebecca sports a try, be safe and may God
Fink paper targets on the hillside later said she should have called a bless you.n
for the Women’s Flintlock Seneca
Match at Friendship. “It was the
last station,” “Rebecca” recalled.
“I loaded and was going for time,
which is important in that match.
I remember seating the ball, but I
don’t remember what happened. In
my rush, the ramrod tip broke off.
I was concentrating on getting that
shot close.
“I don’t know if the wood was
weak or if I pulled the rod out at
too much of an angle, but I couldn’t
find the ramrod tip. The gun was
okay. After they pulled the targets,
Roger Trammel said, ‘I saw that you

Muzzle Loading State Events

June 1-3--NMLRA Skeet & Trap Territorial: Grand Valley Cap N Ballers™: 616-836-5760
June 2-3--Spring Shoot Rendezvous: Lansing Muzzleloading Gun Club: 517-393-2772
June 9-10--5th Annual Memorial Shoot: Sauk Trail Long Rifles; Tecumseh: 517-879-3096
June 9--Return of Robin Hood: Traditional Archery Blanket Shoot
Grand Valley Cap N Ballers™: 269-792-4384
June 9-17--NMLRA National Championships: Friendship, IN: 812-667-5131
June 10--Woods Walk: Clinton River Muzzle Loaders
Detroit Sportsman Congress: 586-731-6088
June 15-17--Fathers Day Shoot: Howard City: 616-887-9716
June 15-18--Bridgeport Family Fun Rendezvous: Bridgeport: 989-746-0723
June 16-17--NSSA: Lansing Muzzle Loading Gun Club: 269-965-0764
June 16--Sporting Clays (Modern Shotgun): Grand Valley Cap N Ballers™
616-836-5760 or 616-307-7728
June 16--.22 Pistol Woods Walk: Clinton River Muzzle Loaders
Detroit Sportsman Congress: 586-731-6088
June 23--Social Trap & Skeet: Grand Valley Cap N Ballers™: 616-836-5760 or 616-307-7728
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 49
 Updated Land management for deer
New...never released buck hunting strategies!
W
e have been
writing deer
management,
land manage-
ment and
primarily deer
food plot articles for a good number
of years for Woods-N-Water News.
If you live long enough you will
find many of your prior creations
have room for improvement and that
includes me.
Basic Needs of Deer
I have come to believe that cover
for deer is number one requirement
if you are a buck hunter.
If you have the sweetest
deer food plot in the county
but no cover even on 640
acres, it’s unlikely to see
that trophy buck during
legal shooting hours. Does
bed for convenience while
bucks bed for security and
demand cover. He may bed
By Ed Spinazzola
two miles from
your land. He
Mr. Food Plots
will leave your
food plot up to
two hours before
daylight and start his trek back to
your land during twilight but arrive
at your plot for his dinner at dark.
This movement of deer on your
neighbors land during daylight gives
them first crack at the buck you have
night trail pictures of.
So, make many secure doe
family and buck beds placed where
humans do not traverse. If you have
a mature forest that has oaks, do a
total clear cut in select areas of a
few acres and leave no more than
eight chosen oaks per acre. The
regrowth will be thick and phenom-
enal with bucks aplenty.
If you have open areas, think of
planting cover such as a blend of
switch grass and add legumes such
as a blend of clover (medium red,
white, ladino and alsike), alfalfa,
(grazing type not haying like vernal)
and birdsfoot trefoil. In Michigan,
think a blend (one pound each per
acre) of shelter and cave in rock
switch grass. Both are the stiffest
switch grasses available and that is
important for they will stand up all
winter into April. Then blend the
two pounds of switch grass with 3/4
pounds each of the legume blend
for a total legume blend of 4-1/2
pounds, then lastly add ¾ pound of
a brassica blend for cover per acre
and seed the 7-1/4 pounds per acre
in mid June. You now have within
a few years a deer bedding area that
includes a snack bar. You can make
a large field of many acres or several
50 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
1-2 acre plots. Note; for planting
instructions and maintenance of this
wildlife cover and forage blend see
our web site www.deerattraction.
com.
Do not plant warm season
grasses such as big blue stem,
Indian grass or cool season Canada
wild rye for deer. They do not stand
up and will fall down with little
wind or snow pressure. Canada wild
rye seeds can kill bird dogs. You
can add a little timothy for variety.
Maintenance is easy and you may
have this combination cover and
forage blend seeding out live you.
Clear cut several open-
ings in your woods 60 to
100 feet wide. You do not
need to remove the stumps.
Spray Round up herbicide
three times in one year with
the last spraying in mid-
September then spray again
the following mid-May and
broadcast the wildlife blend
the same day.
Check Ernst seeds
for warm sea-
son grasses. You
should see bucks
and doe families in these seeded se-
cure wood openings in three years.
Buck Kill Hill
Within those switch grass
areas you can create a combination
water hole and firearm buck kill
spot. Have an excavator or a trac-
tor mounted back hoe and create a
slope type water hole and pile the
soil nearby but toward your firearm
site. The soil pile is three to four feet
high and the flat top area is around
eight feet in diameter. The height
of the soil pile is determined by
the switch grass height. Depending
on soil and latitude, cave in rock
switch grass can be six to eight feet
high. If not sure make the soil pile
four feet high and make correc-
tions later. Seed the eight feet wide
surface with a legume blend. This
is a firearm set up and can be many
yards away. I suggest at least 150
yards insuring the bucks feeling of
security.
Make sure you enter the shoot-
ing blind or seat with positive
stealth. When the buck is bedded on
the kill hill with his head down he
cannot be seen, when he picks his
head up he can see above the switch
grass and you can see his antlers and
head. This is where you may need
to alter the height of the kill hill,
let him see his surroundings when
he picks up his head. Wait until he
stands up. These buck kill hills will
mostly have mature bucks using
The author standing in the bow plot next to the firearm plot with fine
growing separated rows of corn and the lush forage growing within the
separated corn rows.
them if you and your neighbors have
practiced sound deer management.
The buck has a field of cover,
(switch grass) and forage (legume
blend). He has a private water hole
and can see a good distance and
can easily see danger just by lifting
his head, he drops his head to take
a nap and knows nothing danger-
ous can see him. You think maybe
he feels secure? If you have a large
open field that borders woods and
have the desire for action, you might
think several ‘buck kill hills’ in a 10
acre or more switch grass field. Add
a can’t miss sweetened kill plot in
front of you and watch several ma-
ture bucks. Does it get any better?
We have been working on the
above site design for a few years
with a few changes in the process.
We don’t feel that you need to be
told how effective this method is.
I didn’t think to ever publish this
information but I am 83 and you
can’t take it with you, so enjoy and
remember my family in your will.
This deer kill hill does not need to
be in a field of switch grass, it can
be that clear cut woods that now
grows thick and heavy brush, it can
be a low land that is covered in tall
grass or tag alder or grey dogwood
or any lowland thick growing brush.
For added cover in that open field
site you can plant a couple white
spruce on either side of the buck kill
hill.
Update...
Sweetening Thing
It’s the opening day of the
youth hunt on September 20, 2014.
Gabe VanWormer, videographer for
Michigan Outdoors TV is filming
our ‘Ultimate Corn Based Kill Plot’
DVD. Gabe and his son Reed are in
a seriously camouflaged shed blind
overlooking a one acre sweetened
bow kill plot with a two acre ‘ulti-
mate corn based firearm kill plot’
just beyond. Beyond the firearm kill
plot is three acres of surrounding
field corn. Beyond and surrounding
the above field corn and two kill
plots is 15 acres of switch grass,
(cover) and forage blend. We farmed
this field until 1996. The cover and
forage blend was seeded in 2006.
The field corn and two acre firearm
kill plot was seeded May 12. The
seeding for the firearm plot consist-
ed of RR corn, soybeans and sugar
beets at no more than 1/3 normal
seeding rate.
The bow kill plot was seeded
with soybeans and sugar beets July
10. The firearm plot and field corn
was sprayed with Roundup three
weeks later and again three weeks
later. The bow plot was sprayed with
Roundup August 1 and sorghum
and a brassica blend was broadcast
the same day. That same day we
also broadcast around two pounds
per acre of a brassica blend in the
firearm plot. On September 1 we
broadcast 20 pounds per acre of a
grain blend, (oats, rye grain and
winter wheat) on both kill plots. On
September 15 we did the sweetening
thing by broadcasting 100 pounds
of urea (46% nitrogen), and sprayed
one gallon of sprayable ammonium
sulfate with one quart of table sugar
per acre in the bow site only. See
the picture of me September 15
standing in the bow plot next to the
firearm plot. Note the fine growing
separated rows of corn and the lush
forage growing within the separated
corn rows. Note the lush bow forage
and the obvious soybean leaves.
The soybeans would not be there if
it wasn’t for the soybeans seeded
in the firearm plot on May 12. The
three acre field corn saves the two
acre firearm plot from disappearing
and the two acre firearm plot saves
the bow plot forage.
Deer are hooked on the soys
growing in the firearm plot and pay
little attention to the younger bow
site forage, even though it is more
luscious and digestible. That is until
the bow site is sweetened. Now see
the picture of Reed and his fine eight
point buck laying real close to the
spot where I was standing. Can you
find a single soybean leaf? I can’t
and that was the fifth buck seen by
Gabe and Reed that afternoon. That
was the youth opening day Septem-
ber 20, (five days after we did the
sweetening thing).
The next day Cal Barlow, an-
other youth-hunter asked if he could
hunt Reed’s blind. Reed said, “Yes
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if I can come with you.” Sunday af-
ternoon, four anxious hunters, Reed.
Gabe, Cal and his Dad, Bruce Bar-
low enter the camo blind. Around
6 p.m. Gabe tells Cal to look in the
switch grass area and see the big
buck standing on a HILL.
Gabe tells Cal he is 215 yards
away, “You think you can take him
at this distance”? Cal hesitates,
Bruce tells him to wait, the soys
will bring him in. The big buck beds
down out of sight, fifteen minutes
later the buck stands up and Cal har-
vests the buck and joy and celebra-
tion abounds!
When you do the sweetening
thing all vegetation is sweetened
even grass. The deer got hooked
on the bow kill plot young soybean
leaves very quick. The sweetening
practice still worked to bring in deer
for the early bow season and beyond
but we have made a few changes. Reed VanWormer and his fine eight point buck laying real close to the
The sweetening thing article advises spot where the author is standing in the other photo…but you can’t find
50 pounds of urea two weeks prior a single soybean leaf five days after the sweetening thing!
to the bow opener, I now advise still
50 pounds of urea but you can do five days before bow opener. The but we are not farming we are
100 pounds per acre and no spraying nutrients sprayed on the leaves are hunting bucks.
AMS. Due to the lesson of the soy- 90% absorbed by the leaves within Ed Spinazzola is an Associate of
bean leaves disappearing within five two hours. The amount of AMS, Tony LaPratts, Ultimate Land Man-
days of application we now advise sugar and urea advised agement. For more info call 586-
to do the spraying of ammonium above is much higher than what 784-8090 or visit; www.deerattrac-
sulfate, AMS and table sugar only is recommended for farm crops tion.com or www.tonysulm.comn
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 51
 Michigan Traditions...Lessons Learned
Deer Camp on The Farm
A series of stories about Deer Camps in the Great State of Michigan
A
sparkling frost cov-
ered the windshield,
brilliantly reflecting
the early morning
sunrays. The woods
were completely
still, except for the soft crunching
of footsteps on the gravel driveway.
Suddenly, the peace and tranquil-
ity of the late autumn morning was
abruptly shaken with the roaring
of the diesel engine coming to life.
Steam rolled from the well-worn
coffee mug, instantly fogging up
the interior glass after being placed
into the console cup holder. As
he slid into the driver’s seat, the
excitement was becoming harder
and harder to contain. It was finally
October 26, the deer camp weekend
at the farm which had been booked
by Jake months in advance for him
and his family.
The trailer, loaded the
night before, was fully
packed down with an ATV
and all the hunting equip-
ment needed for the long
weekend. Two sleepy boys,
Tucker and Ronan, slowly
climbed their way up the
runner boards of the tall
standing F350 into
their backseats, By Jake Dykstra
a rather large
stretch for a five of Wildlife Realty
and seven-year-
old. After buckling up Morgan, the
youngest, in the car seat, Jen was
the last to make her way into the
vehicle. With a brief word of prayer
asking for safety on the roads, the
young family was off to the farm
for an action packed weekend.
The three hour ride that lay
ahead would be seemingly short
with clear roads and high spirits.
After a few short hours of “I
Spy With My Own Little Eyes,”
song singing, and lots of snacks,
Jake slowed the diesel to a halt in
front of the barn door, where Uncle
“Ron” sat happily smiling on his
tractor, waving animatedly to the
boys. Tucker and Ronan eagerly
jumped out of the vehicle, leaving
Mom, Dad and the little one in the
truck with a welcomed moment
of silence. Jake subtly flashed a
contented grin at Jen as he watched
his young boys stand gleefully in
front of the tractor, gazing up at
52 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
their Great-uncle Ron. This was a
reminiscing sight that had aroused
vivid memories of Jake’s childhood
visiting the family farm for what
seemed like just a few years ago as
a young boy.
After unloading the truck, it
was time for “the boys” to hang
treestands. Jake swung down the
back gates of the trailer, and hur-
riedly backed the Rhino ATV off.
Two sets of Lone Wolf sticks and
stands were already strapped onto
the Rhino. Tucker and Ronan had
hopped up into the Rhino no sooner
than when it had rolled onto the
ground, and the three were off to
the woods in search of the best
looking tree.
Having hunted the family farm
for the past 20 years, Jake knew
without a doubt that the best place
to hang a treestand was on
the east 40 acres just off
of the main trail leading
directly out of the cedar
swamp into the alfalfa
field. With some construc-
tive guidance, Tucker and
Ronan helped Dad pick out
the best looking tree and
watched in amazement as
their superhero
safely navigated
up and down the
tree while hang-
ing the stands and
sticks. The location was perfect.
The stand was facing parallel to
the field edge, pointing directly at
the muddy deer trail. Fully con-
cealed amidst the cedars, this stand
would present an excellent opportu-
nity to harvest a buck the following
evening. With another stand yet to
hang, however, the boys quickly
jumped back up into the Rhino to Jake and Uncle Ron with a dandy buck taken at the Deer Camp on
check on the box blind that was the Farm.
to be used for Jake and Tucker’s small hands) and quietly whispered as the three sped out to the blind to
morning hunt. to glance towards the box blind. ensure that it had weathered safely
Now midafternoon, Jake and “Dad, look there’s a deer!” Tucker through the past year. Brushing
the boys drove through the woods excitedly shouted. off the dusty windows was all that
along a cleared farm equipment The young deer, likely a year- was needed to prepare the old blind
lane. As they neared the edge of ling, quickly looked up in their for the morning’s hunt, and with
a bean field, Jake rolled the ATV direction and trotted back off into the recent deer sighting, the three
to a stop, promptly turning off the the woods, providing Jake an decided it was best to return back to
ignition. Picking up his binoculars, excellent opportunity to teach his the farm and enjoy an afternoon of
he carefully glassed the field, just up-and-coming hunters some ad- riding quads around the barn until
to be sure there weren’t deer feed- ditional sportsman skills. Ronan, a dinner time.
ing there already. He passed the bit disappointed he was unable to It had been a unanimous deci-
binoculars over to Tucker, (which look through the binoculars to see sion to roast hotdogs over a camp-
were rather large and clumsy in his the deer, soon forgot his misfortune fire for dinner that night. After
Jake placed the wood for the fire,
Tucker and Ronan each got to
ignite a corner with their candle
lighters. Shortly after, the fire was
crackling and popping loudly with
the smell of pine smoke filling the
air. The remainder of the evening
was spent enjoying the beautiful
sunset, sitting around the warmth
of the fire while roasting s’mores
together.
The next morning’s hunt
was slow for Jake and Tucker,
sighting just a few does off in
the corner of the bean field, but
with temperatures falling through-
out the day, the evening promised
to be a good hunt for Jake in the
Lone Wolf.
Jake had elected to be in his
stand early that afternoon, but after
losing track of time talking with
Uncle Ron, did not make it to the
field edge until 4:45 p.m. With
some does already in the field, Jake
quietly snuck through the woods
and up the tree without alerting
any of the feeding deer. No sooner
than he sat down, he heard beans
crunching less than a hundred
yards away. A lonely 6-point was
soon standing right beneath Jake’s
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stand on the field edge, paying no
attention to the scent trail that had
likely been left from the trek in a
few short minutes ago.
After slowly walking out of
Jake’s line of sight, the snapping of
the bean stalks proceeded to grow
louder and louder once more, as if
the young buck was coming back
that direction, only this time, the
deer was much larger. Jake quickly
grabbed his grunt tube, immediate-
ly captivating the attention of the
eight-point. Without hesitating, the
buck made a beeline straight for
the grunt, giving Jake just enough
time to clip his release to his bow
and stand up.
Still trotting right at him, Jake
grunted loudly, stopping the deer
in its track at 20 yards. Unwilling
to take a tough quartering shot,
Jake held at full draw, waiting
for the buck to turn. Now on full
alert and looking directly at Jake,
the buck made one stomping step
to the right, ready to blow out of
the field. This was all the window
that Jake needed to make a perfect
broadside shot, sending the eight-
point crashing into the thick cedar
swamp before an eerie silence fol-
(Lunch Provided)
lowing merely seconds later.
Excitedly, Jake sat down to call
Jen to inform her of his success-
ful 15 minute hunt. Knowing the
deer had expired not far off the
field edge, Jake chose to climb
down and walk back to the farm to
wait for Uncle Ron and to grab the
ATV with his two deer trackers-in-
training.
Once back to the farm, Jake
found Tucker and Ronan, flash-
lights already in hand, ready
to track the deer dad just shot.
After excitedly reliving the mo-
ment with his wife and kids, Jake,
Tucker, Ronan, and Uncle Ron all
crammed back into the Rhino and
headed back to the field.
Once the group had located
the arrow, vanes stained crimson,
Jake and Uncle Ron began to point
out the blood spots on the ground
for the hunters-in-training. With
Tucker and Ronan’s keen eyes and
some help from the more experi-
enced trackers, the successful hunt-
ing party came upon their new-
found trophy, buried underneath
the cedars just 70 yards inside the
woodlot.
Using Uncle Ron’s generous
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new gift, a new custom-made neck
knife just given to him the day
before, Jake proceeded to once
again use this moment as a teach-
ing opportunity to show his young
hunters how to properly field dress
a whitetail. Loading the buck onto
the back of the Rhino, the four
drove back to the farm, grinning
ear-to-ear, excited to show Jen
their trophy buck.
Once the deer was hanging
from the barn rafters back at the
farm, it was time to relax and enjoy
the success of the hunt. It had al-
ready been an exciting weekend for
everyone on this third generation
deer camp, and that’s what makes
deer camp such a special place. It
provides the opportunity to make
and to share timeless memories for
all ages of life. It also grants us the
opportunities to immerse our chil-
dren into the outdoors, and teach
them the necessary skills required
to become successful hunters and
land stewards.
Do you have a deer camp
worth sharing? Email me at jake@
wildliferealty.com for the chance to
have your camp featured in Michi-
gan Woods-N-Waters News.n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 53
 TROLLING
TRENDS
C
ould you imagine tak-
ing your great-grandpa
trolling today?
He would be as-
tonished at the boats,
motors, and gadgets we
are using now to catch fish. Just the
GPS and mapping hardware would
make his head spin, but fishing
walleyes high in the water column?
That would be totally absurd. One
of the biggest disappointments of
my fishing life was not being able to
share all of the new technol-
ogy with the man that first
took me walleye fishing, my
Uncle Ken Crawford. He
was on the cutting edge of
angling in his day on the St.
Marys River near Goetz-
ville, Michigan.
Uncle Ken had a 20-foot
wood Thompson with an 85
horsepower Johnson
hung on the back. He By Mark Sak
would run up to Raber
Bay and fish the river right where it
dropped into the shipping channel.
The anglers back then used milk
Open 7 Days
Mon-Thur 8-6 • Fri 8-7
Sat 9-6 • Sun 10-4
54 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
jugs instead of waypoints and every
decent hole or underwater point had
a jug marking it. He would straight
line spoons like Daredevils back
and troll the river down the break.
He would catch both walleye and
pike, and some of the pike were real
beauties.
Today, there is a broad range of
trolling technologies that have led
to many new tools in the troller’s
bag of tricks. Small planer boards
spread lures out to enable us to cut
new water and get lines
away from each other. Line
counter reels and lure dive
curves give us the ability
to know exactly where the
lure is running. We can find
lure data of most new lures
either at the manufacturer
website, on the lure pack-
age or on the market. The
sale of dive curves has
become a business in
itself. But it sure is
important once anglers learn how
to put all the pieces together. Dive
curves allow us to know where that
lure is running within a few inches.
Combine the ability to control
the depth the lure is diving, we can
now add the mapping hardware to
troll specific fish holding structure
or contours and we can return to
that spot day after day and adjust
our presentation to exactly the strike
zone where the fish are holding
on our sonar. We can then create a
productive plot line or trolling pat-
tern which works best for this piece
of structure and program it into our
GPS which is linked to our troll-
ing motor. That system will make
the boat travel the exact same plot
line or track every time. Uncle Ken
would freak out.
The newest trolling trend re-
lates to fishing the water column
in a different way. We are seeing
shifts from using bottom bouncers
or downriggers, to using weights
that simply snap on the line. Yes
there are now dive curves for snap
weights. This all started about 20
years ago with the revelation of the
50/50 snap weight method. It was
really the only snap system well
known at the time. The lure was
run out 50 feet. Then a 1-ounce, 1
½-ounce or 2-ounce snap weight
was applied to the line, and another
50 feet of line was let out, then ap-
ply the planer board. The adjustment
for this presentation was the weight,
which was snapped on to the line.
Well you can probably guess what
anglers did with that. They started
running 20/50, 10/50, 20/20 and
also started running diving baits as
well as crawler harnesses with snap
weights. That opened up a whole
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new can of worms.
Now in-line diving weights
are getting lures that were never
meant to run that deep to places
where hungry fish hold. The newest
trend is running big shallow diving
cranks to virtually any spot in the
water column. Yep there are dive
curves ready to help you run that
#13 floating Rapala down to 27 feet.
Think of how this can change your
trolling game. Old floating Rapalas,
Thundersticks or even Hot-N-Tots
can now be run with precision in
entirely different zones in the water
column. That is a good thing for all
of us fishing tackle pack rats.
I for one will never give up my
bottom bouncers or three-ways.
They all still have valid applications
and at times will produce quite well.
But I also have a box filled with
snaps and different sizes of weights.
My most productive trolling tech-
nique on Saginaw Bay recently has
involved running a deep Husky Jerk
out six-feet, applying a two-ounce
snap weight, running it down until it
hits the bottom and sending it out on
a board. The momentum of the boat
will pull the weight up some just
like a bottom bouncer and one of my
favorite cranks will now run just off
the bottom and I don’t have to run
the bait out to Toledo to get it down
there. Trolling with snap weights is
fun, productive and versatile. Give it
a try on your next trip and have fun
with it. You may be surprised how
well you do. I’ll bet ole Uncle Ken
is smiling somewhere right now.
Have a great summer and I’ll see
you on the water.n
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 THE DEADLY
JIG AND MINNOW
By George Rowe
W
hen fishing for wall-
eyes, twice a week,
all summer, I marvel
at the number of
people seen trolling
for these fish. They plow along all
day, towing night crawler harnesses,
spinners, plugs, body baits and
various other lures and they catch
a lot of weeds and, of course, some
walleyes.
Most of them could do better if
they were casting some sort of lure.
Trolling often involves wasting a lot
of time and energy and gas simply
because the angler is not in produc-
tive water. At least some of the time,
the walleyes are in shallow water–
water as thin as six or eight feet.
The fish move into the shallows
during low light hours to feed on
minnows mainly, and they remain
there all night, moving into deeper
water only after the sun is well up
the following morning.
At first light, they can often
be caught by casting in six feet of
water, water so shallow that trolling
is impossible. If you ran an outboard
motor in water that thin, it would
quickly rout any fish right out of
there. You might get away with
in with an electric motor but most
folks don’t use electrics for troll-
ing unless they are carrying several
batteries.
Trolling for walleyes is also a bit
disappointing in terms of the action
once the fish is hooked. If the lure
is encumbered with anything extra,
such as spinners or flashers, the fish
can’t fight well. This gets worse if
you are using planer boards.
It also helps to remember that
walleyes are school fish. Where you
find one is a great place to catch
several and they will generally all
be of the same year class and thus
of the same general size. Any place
you catch a keeper-sized walleye is
an ideal place to find another and
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the best way to do that, of course, is
by casting.
Trolling would quickly take
you right out of the hot spot. This is
why serious walleye anglers carry
marker buoys in their boats. When a
good walleye is caught, the marker
goes out and the anglers fish all
around that spot, expecting to catch
another and they often do just that.
If a second fish is caught 50 yards
away, a second marker may go out
and the subsequent casting is done
between the markers. A hot spot no
larger than a good-sized garage may
hold several good fish and the only
sensible way to catch them is by
casting.
While some plugs are great for
casting for walleyes, perhaps the
very best lure is a small leadhead
jig. Although windy conditions or
deeper water might dictate using a
quarter-ounce jig, an eighth-ounce
jig is best for most casting. Bright
colors are best for water stained or
dingy or rendered opaque by algae,
so chartreuse or yellow are often
favored. If the sun is bright and/or
the water is fairly clear, pearl white
is a good choice.
While the jig can be used with-
out a plastic skirt or bait tail, most
anglers like to add one. The skirt
adds some bulk to the lure, a natural
feel, and, of course, some color. My
personal favorite is a chartreuse
or yellow and white skirt, one and
one-half inches long. Finally, the jig
is tipped with a small minnow, the
size usually sold as perch or crappie
minnows.
Fishing with a jig is one of the
more difficult things to learn in
walleye fishing. Some folks take
to it readily but many people have
trouble learning the two basic parts
of the presentation. The first part
is what I call the “sell.” This is the
active jigging of the lure. When fish-
ing six to ten feet of water, in sparse
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A nice walleye taken from a Nor thwest Michigan lake on bright jig
and minnow. George Rowe photo
weeds, the jig is allowed to settle
all the way to the bottom and then
lifted and jigged a couple of times.
The trick is to retrieve or crank the
reel a couple of times, lifting the rod
tip at the same time. When learning
this technique, it helps to remem-
ber than the reel should be turning
ONLY when the lure is being jigged.
After a couple of bounces, the lure
is allowed to drop. This is the “buy”
part of the presentation.
Virtually all of the strikes or
takes will come as the jig is drop-
ping, after the jigging action. If the
angler persists in cranking steadily,
moving the jig constantly, there
probably won’t be many strikes, if
any at all. The lure must be allowed
to stop and sink, to stimulate the
strike.
If the line and rod combination
are sufficiently sensitive, the “take”
or strike will be signaled up the line
by a slight tap. Set the hook. You
have caught a walleye. Many times,
the “tap” will not be detected and
the presence of the fish will not be
known until some weight is or stop-
page is sensed and the hook is set.
For this fishing, a light but rather
stiff spinning rod is recommended,
along with light (six or eight pound
test) line. Braided line or any line
with limited stretch will add to the
sensitivity equation.
There are some important
variables in this jig fishing. Most
of the time, the fish will be close to
the bottom so it is important to let
the jig go all the way to the bottom
and retrieve it close to the bottom.
On occasion, however, the fish will
be up off the bottom and it may be
appropriate to retrieve the jig up as
much as a foot or two off the bot-
tom. This is done by you giving the
jig a bigger boost on the retrieve, not
by retrieving it well off the bottom.
Only trial and error can tell which
technique will work best on a given
day. The speed of the retrieve is also
an important variable. Most days,
the walleyes will respond nicely to
a fairly aggressive and rapid jigging
and stopping motion. Some days,
however, they will hit better on a
very slow retrieve in which the lure
is almost crawled across the bottom
with little upward movement. Again,
one must often experiment a bit to
find out which presentation is going
to be most effective.
While trolling is passive and
it can be downright boring, casting
a jig and minnow is more active
fishing and it usually seems more
rewarding, even when the fishing
return is about even. If you haven’t
done this jig and minnow casting,
give it a try - you are sure to like the
results.n
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 55

Annette Reihl from Beal City with a 25 pound-plus mature
chinook that gave her the fight of a lifetime. State and
federal fisheries managers need to recognize the traditional
rights of Michigan residents to seek and catch salmon. Chi-
nook are highly prized by thousands of Michigan spor tsmen
for their fighting abilities and excellent table fare.
56 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
My Thoughts...By Kenny Darwin
COLOSSAL
KINGS
T
he lake was placid and
calm when we set lines
for chinook and our
craft melted into the
distant low hanging fog.
It was peaceful outdoors
with no howling wind
or pounding surf and
the still morning air made you slightly
chilled. I could hear the distant call of
sea gulls as the sweet smell of Great
Lakes water consumed my senses.
Wham!
A starboard rod slams double next to
my guest, Annette Reihl from Beal City,
and she excitedly jumped up and yelled
to get the attention of her husband, Ed.
He grabbed the rod and shoved it into
Annette’s hands as she remarked about
how hard the fish was fighting, how
much line it was ripping off the reel,
how she could barely hang on. So, Ed
hunkered against her back, helped hold
the bent double Dipsy rod.
“This fish is burning line off the reel
and I can’t reel in an inch!” she yelled
as the duo worked diligently to keep the
monster king salmon under control.
For several minutes it looked like
the big fish was gaining the upper hand
by uncontrollably burning line off the
reel. When the brute finally ceased the
runaway power sprint you could hear a
sigh of relief from Annette as she began
the chore of reeling in over 200 feet of
line. That’s when the big fish sprinted
away again, and almost ripped the rod
from her hands as it melted more line off
the Daiwa 47 line counter reel.
Once again Ed assisted her in lifting
a rod that was almost pulled horizontal.
The pair was in for the fight of their life
and eventually eased the monster Chi-
nook salmon to the net.
This exciting anecdote is a perfect
description of what salmon fishing is all
about. After all, Howard Tanner’s dream
was to transform the Great Lakes into a
freshwater paradise for anglers, a virtual
battleground where family and friends
could pit their skills against the most
powerful game fish in North America.
For decades his dream came true and
legends of sportsmen flocked to the
Great Lakes in search of huge silvery
prizes. The once ghost towns of northern
Michigan were swarmed with tourists
and sportsmen eager to catch salmon. In
a matter of a few short years the salmon
fishery brought billions of dollars to the
Michigan economy and soon the charter
industry boomed and salmon became
our most important game species.
No other Michigan game fish stirs
the passion of dedicated Great Lakes
anglers as does big freshwater chinook
salmon. There is no fish that can com-
pete for all-round enjoyment. Kings
grow to brutish size and 30 pound mon-
sters are common. Sure, steelhead can
be more spectacular but kings go air-
borne too and their battle is like fighting
a runaway tarpon. Kings are simply the
super fish of the Great Lakes and they
meet the needs of anglers seeking brute
strength, impressive size and colossal
fighting attributes.
I have to admit I was spoiled in the
60s when the first coho salmon I landed
was over 16 pounds. I was a steelhead
man, hell bent on seeking chromers
and I chased them on all of Michigan’s
traditional streams, beaches and Great
Lakes. But salmon got under my skin
and the sight of 120,000 coho finning
in the gin clear water of the Platte River
was burned into my memory forever.
Cohos are great fish with silvery flanks
and bright orange flesh that is simply
delicious. For years I was a steelhead/
brown trout/coho salmon fishing nut.
But then the DNR introduced Chinook
salmon and my priorities made a drastic
change.
With fond memories I recall my first
encounter with these super salmon near
Manistee. The monster fish grabbed a fly
set behind a chrome dodger and ripped
the drag like no other. Yes, the strike
was violent and the long brutish line
stripping run burned line from the reel
like no other fish I had ever hooked. It
fought much harder than any beer belly
lake trout, maintained a powerful drag
screaming run better than broad shoul-
dered browns and showed more stamina
than steelhead or coho.
A few weeks later a massive
school showed up at the Manistee
pier and I first used J-Plugs for
instantaneous strikes. But the harbor
was small, the kings outlandishly
huge and landing them without
snagging downriggers from the
congested boat traffic was difficult.
Soon the big salmon moved into
Manistee Lake and gathered into a
massive school near the mouth of
the Little Manistee River and I tried
fishing from an anchored canoe with
John Collins from Midland. We
used floating spawn bags and when
we hooked a chinook and pulled the
anchor, the fish would pull the Old
Town canoe across the placid lake
at lightning speed. On a dark night
with stars filling the sky it dawned
on me that chinook salmon was the
king of the Great Lakes, the best of
the best sport species, the ultimate
game fish. And it soon came to pass
that chinook drew an audience of
outdoorsmen like no other fish in the
history of sport fishing in Michigan.
Chinook salmon are simply super
fish.
With fond memories I recall the
first time I dined on fresh chinook
steaks. After a long day of fishing,
Ed Reihl made a fire along the beach
of Lake Michigan where we camped
at night. We placed chinook fillets
in a locking hinged grilling basket
with a long handle, sprinkled the
meat with lemon, Montreal Steak
COVER PHOTO: The author has been chasing salmon since the stocking program star ted in the
early 60s. It is his opinion the federal government is challenging Michigan for control of the Great Lakes.
Fishermen gather on the Grand Haven pier in the setting sun to cast for Chinook salmon as char ter
boats troll the shallows with decks full of anxious anglers.
seasoning and rubbed on butter. We
held the basket over the roaring fire
until the fresh fish was cooked but
slightly pink in the middle. Wow!
Chinook salmon is off the hook the
best tasting of all the Great Lakes
fishes.
Martha Reihl from Beal City
was constantly canning goodies
and asked if she could try kings.
The result was fantastic eating and
I soon acquired my own canner,
jars and began canning salmon.
I’d make yearly treks in search of
fresh chinook that I would dice into
1-inch chunks, mix with V-8 juice
and place jars in a pressure cooker
for 90 minutes. Canned chinook
tastes like fresh tuna and on a cold
winter day is a delightful dish when
mixed with chopped onion, celery
and Miracle Whip dressing. I’m a
canned chinook junkie and carry
sandwiches with me while fishing,
hunting and on photo shooting out-
ings. For 40 years it has been my
pleasure to harvest and prepare chi-
nook salmon as one of my favorite
food staples.
Years ago Dick Swan recom-
mended I visited Leland on a cold
November night during the lake
trout spawning run. I was amazed
at the number of fish in this rela-
tively short river, from the dam
to the breakwall there would be
thousands of night visitors. It was
fantastic fishing but lakers lacked
power, stamina, didn’t offer much of
a battle and when we got our catch
home we were disappointed with
the taste. Lake trout don’t fight with
the razzle and dazzle of other trout
and salmon and it was easy to crank
them to net. Their flesh was soft
and if you fried them your house
smelled like stinky fish. I soon lost
my interest in eating lakers after
they flunked my many persistent
taste tests fried, deep fried, baked
and broiled. Fortunately I had a
buddy that would smoke lakers and
the end result tasted okay but to be
honest carp are much better eating
than lake trout. On the other hand
chinook are absolutely fantastic
eating and my favorite recipe is
grilled chinook steak marinated in
Pompeian Extra Virgin olive oil and
Montreal Steak Seasoning.
Most Michigan Great Lakes an-
glers have had the pleasure of catch-
ing Chinook, experiencing their
power and tasting the phenomenal
flesh, but in recent years the salmon
resource has been down played,
stocking efforts reduced and the
Michigan DNR officially announced
they are getting out of the salmon
business. Are they saying they
intentionally want to destroy this
valuable sport fishery? What about
the loss of the charter industry and
billions of dollars in tourism? Don’t
they recognize the economic impact
and the cultural importance of
chinooks? For years they preached
propaganda that sport fishing for
salmon was on the skids because
of lack of alewife. Meanwhile they
allowed overstocking of lake trout
in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan
behind the backs of the sport fishing
nation who want salmon.
Colossal Kings page 58
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 57
Colossal Kings:
from page 57

Enter the Great Lakes Salmon Ini- in management policies. This year
tiative (GLSI) in August 2016 who the GLSI has made a monumental
objected to reduced chinook salmon impact on the MDNR stocking deci-
plants. GLSI is comprised of sport sions and Lake Michigan will not
fishermen who want to work with see a reduction to 200,000 kings but
the MDNR, Feds and Native Ameri- instead get 550,000 chinook planted.
cans to better manage the valuable This is a great example of sport fish-
Great Lakes fisheries. Keep in mind ermen having an impact on Great
that the US Fish and Wildlife Ser- Lakes fisheries management and the
vice has led the charge to eliminate MDNR is listening. The efforts of
all non-native species which include GLSI could become a monumental
alewife, rainbow smelt, chinook step in the right direction to restore
salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, salmon fishing.
brown trout and Atlantic salmon. It But there is much more to this
is their goal to replenish the Great story because what occurred in
Lakes with native lake trout. Years the waters of Michigan is a clear
ago they funded huge hatcheries to example of federal mismanagement
raise lake trout and began a monu- of the world’s greatest freshwater
mental stocking program on north- sport fishery for salmon, steelhead
ern Lake Huron. They eventually and browns. Once again the feds are
created a “predator pit” which is a only interested in native stocks of
large mass of water filled with lake lake trout and all sport species like
trout that gobble alewife and smelt steelhead, kings, coho, atlantics and
until the forage fish are extinct, non- browns will eventually be squeezed
existent. The GLSI recognized that out. This sounds absolutely ri-
the USFWS agenda would destroy diculous but I swear on my press
sport fishing in Michigan. Over 75 credentials it is the truth. Last year Trolling large spoons is a productive tactic for catching summer
percent of fishermen who used to they planted three million lakers in chinook. Modern trollers use long leads off downriggers and super
troll Lake Huron have abandoned Lake Michigan and millions more copper wire to take highly reflective spoons into the strike zone.
the waters because sport species are are already in the hatcheries to be
no longer planted and only lakers introduced soon. Meanwhile MDNR federal agencies need to shift priori- power to maintain a viable popula-
exist. is told to not plant salmon because ties. Michigan anglers want chinook tion that provides exciting outdoor
GLSI got busy and began talk- it could cause a crash of alewife. salmon and deserve management adventures for Michigan citizens.
ing with MDNR regarding the shift Clearly the USFWS, MDNR and agencies to do everything in their If you love chinook as much as I
do you need to be aware your sport
fishing is at risk. My recommenda-
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WE DIDN’T INVENT CLIPS, contact with screw
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(10 1/4” long, weighs about 3 oz) (7” long, weighs about 1.5 oz) Lead Core, Wire or Copper Lines and Heavy Weights. The size of the TX-44 forcing the Stingray downward. A fish on will trout plants, continue with salmon
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58 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
 How to make a fly rod work for you
By William T. Mangan (FFI) Certified Fly Casting Instructor
Part IV:
Number 4 - Essential
PAUSE
P
ause is all about the tim-
ing of the cast. At the end
of a casting stroke you
must make a crisp stop,
after the stop you must
pause, waiting on both
the forward and back cast, before
initiating the opposite direction cast.
You have to pause so that the fly line
can straighten out, then simultane-
ously upon straightening, start your
opposite casting stroke.
Now, in a perfect world the
pause should be long enough so
that the loop straightens out, upon
straightening start to cast in the
opposite direction. When the line
straightens, at the end of the cast,
it will be taut (no slack) and the
rod starts to load (bend) against the
weight and inertia of the fly line.
This is the proper time to initiate
your opposite casting stroke.
Most problems with pause occur
on the back cast. It is usually easier
to learn proper pause on the forward
cast, because you can easily watch
the line loop forming and unfold-
ing. When casting a short amount
of line outside the rod tip, the pause
is shorter because it takes less time
for the line to unfold and straighten
than it does when casting a longer
amount of line.
In simplest terms: SHORT
LINE / SHORTER PAUSE...
LONG LINE / LONGER PAUSE
When working on pause/timing
try these two techniques:
One technique is to simply turn
your head and watch your back
cast, just don’t get in the bad habit
of always watching your back cast,
you will miss the fish rising in front
of you!! When observing your back
cast, do not wait long enough to see
the line perfectly straight before
making the forward cast. Our hands/
bodies do not react as fast as our
brains. If we wait until our brain
tells us the line is straight, by the
time we react it is too late, the line
will be dropping towards the ground
introducing slack.
Instead watch the end of the
line unfolding, anticipate the line
straightening when you see approxi-
mately 3 to 5 feet of the loop (candy
cane) left to unfold, then tell your-
self, go the other way. By the time
your body reacts to your brain’s
visual cue, the line should be close
to straight. With practice, you will
eventually learn how much unfolded
Figure 1: Too shor t of a pause can cause “Buggy Whipping.” If you hear the “cracking sound” you
probably just lost your fly.
loop is needed for you to accom- pause a little longer than shorter. needed for proper loop formation
plish the proper pause. There are numerous problems of the forward cast. Not only will
Another technique I like to use associated with an improper pause: you hear the cracking sound, if the
when teaching the pause are some Too long a pause and the fly line forward casting stroke is not length-
simple sayings: Cast with approxi- will start falling from gravity, to the ened, the loop will tail.
mately 15 feet of fly line outside the ground, introducing slack into your If you hear the cracking sound
rod tip. On the crisp stop of the cast, system. If the pause is too long the you probably just snapped your fly
whether on the forward or back cast fly will catch the grass, weeds or off. It’s the same principle as a bull
say, “Hi Mom.” Immediately after rocks. Especially bad if you are fish- whip breaking the sound barrier.
finishing the word “Mom” start your ing, the fly will tick or slap on the More than once buggy whipping
opposite cast. The line should be water, “spooking fish.” was the culprit for having to replace
fairly close to straight when working Too short a pause and you can a client’s fly. (See Figure 1)
with this amount of line and pause. end up “buggy whipping” the line, Now, with way too short of
Now cast with 20 feet or a little which usually occurs on the back- a pause the line will end up just
more of line. With this amount cast. Buggy whipping is that distinct falling in a pile around your head,
of line, on the crisp stop say, “Hi cracking sound usually heard on the because through the entire oppo-
Mother.” Again your line should be back cast, and almost every caster site casting stroke you will only be
close to straight when you start your has heard it. pulling against slack, with a straight
opposite cast. On the stop of the back cast, the unloaded rod, never loading the rod
Now with 30 foot of line try caster does not pause long enough at any time.
saying “Hi Mother how are you?” for the line to unroll. Instead the About the Author: Bill is the
You can come up with your own forward cast is prematurely started, owner/operator of Mangan’s Cast
word cues or number count, you get pulling against the still unrolling fly a Fly, an FFI Certified Fly Casting
the idea. Also it helps if you say the line loop, leader and fly, accelerat- Instructor and Michigan DNR Certi-
cues out loud, although it may seem ing too fast as the remaining loop fied Fly Fishing Guide. Please check
a little odd to someone watching, unrolls too fast. This action also out his website: www.manganscas-
except of course your Mom. shortens the casting stroke and arc tafly.comn
With the addition of the Essen-
tials we have already learned to re-
member: SHORT LINE / SHORT
CASTING (ARC) STROKE /
SHORT PAUSE…LONG LINE
/ LONG CASTING (ARC)
STROKE / LONG PAUSE
Many casters learn the pause by
waiting to feel a tug from the fly line
when their rods start to load then
start to initiate the opposite casting
stroke. I also feel a tug, especially
with longer line or an oversized line,
but I feel the tug simultaneously
as I’m starting my casting stroke,
I don’t rely on the tug. I believe
that if you wait to feel the tug, then
start to initiate your casting stroke,
you paused just a touch too long.
That being said it would be better to
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 59
 Blade Baits and
Spring Smallies
By Joe Bauer

I
t was a brisk, calm, spring morning in
southeast Michigan, as we zoomed across
the glass calm waters of Lake St. Clair.
When we reached the shallow fishing area,
Tony Yancey jumped up on the front deck
of the Ranger and dropped the trolling
motor into the cold, murky water. He fired
his offering toward a giant shell bed on a
spawning flat. After the bait settles to the bottom,
he lifted his rod feeling the tight vibration the
lure puts off, when it’s pulled through the water.
Suddenly I see his rod tip bounce and his line
go slack. Yancey jerks the rod violently back to
set the hook and his rod bends double as he yells
“Get the net!”
The fight is on! After scrambling around, I
get the net and rush boat side where I can see the
giant golden smallmouth violently shaking its
broad head in an effort to dislodge the lure from
its mouth. Yancey brings the fish alongside the
boat and I sweep the net under the giant belly and
bring her aboard. Lying in the net is an absolute
tank of a smallmouth. The rising morning sun
shimmers on its bronze side showing the impres-
sive colors of the tiger striped marvelous fish.
The huge 6-pound monster smallie smacked
the original Silver Buddy blade bait. Blade baits
are a thin piece of metal shaped into a minnow
profile. There is a lead weight attached to the
front of the lure that makes it fall to the bottom,
nose first. There are two treble hooks that dangle
freely from the bottom of the lure. There is a hole
at the top of the bait where it is attached to your
line. The Original Silver Buddy has been around
for generations and is a staple for cold water
smallmouth.
But if your goal is to land the most fish pos-
sible you need to make a few alterations. Begin
by cutting off the hook with wire cutters. Then,
attach a high quality split ring and a new treble
hook. The Mustad Triple Grip is an excellent
choice. The size of the hook depends on the size The author finds Lake St. Clair to be a bronzeback mecca. The immense forage base along
of the lure. Make sure that the hooks are just with thousands of miles for the smallies to roam makes the Great Lakes a bucket list desti-
small enough so that they cannot get hooked nation for avid bass fishermen.
on each other. You should also always use the
snap swivel that comes in the package. This will their selected spawning grounds. Here, they full force. There are some important tactics that
reduce line twist drastically compared to tying di- gorge themselves on bait fish while waiting for you need to use if you want to fill the boat with
rectly to the bait. Great Lakes smallmouths have the water to warm up to 55-58 degrees. Many trophy smallmouth.
an extremely hard mouth that allows them to anglers will still catch fish on tubes, worms, and When fishing the shallow flats and shell beds,
crunch large crayfish and hold onto spiny perch. cranks, but if you want hot fishing action, con- Yancey elects to make the longest cast possible.
This is why the hook you use should be rugged centrate on blades. Here’s why. This gets the lure far from the shadow of the boat
and reliable. Paired with a sturdy split ring allows A blade bait has a very tight wiggle and puts and allows you to catch the spooky fish holding
the hook to stay in place while the fish violently off extreme vibration as it is pulled through the in the shallow water. He tells me, “The longer
thrashes. water. The Silver Buddy is legendary for its the cast, the better.” Once the bait hits the surface
So, what’s the best time to start blade bait- unique vibrating action caused by its weight let it settle on the bottom. When your line stops
ing smallies? The end of April and May is a hot distribution, which in turn provokes the small- sinking, tighten up slack by reeling and lift your
period for blades and they are deadly on giant mouths into investigating. The vibration and er- bait up 6-8 inches off bottom. Reel up slack and
pre-spawn females. Right after ice-out plump ratic wiggling action catches their eye and causes let the bait work back to the bottom by lowering
butterball shaped smallies move shallow toward them to charge the lure and slam the offering with your rod tip. This action should not be a snap or
60 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
violent jerk, rather just a lift. Keep a tight line
from rod tip to lure at all times. This allows the
bait to stay in the strike zone and the angler has
the ability to set the hook the entire duration of
the cast and minimizes missed hook sets.
When the bait is lifted, the extreme vibration
attracts smallmouth and they engulf the fast ac-
tion lure because they think it’s a baitfish trying
to escape to safety. Many times smallies will
actually eat the blade bait while it is falling, or
they will pick it up right off of the bottom. With
that being said if you ever lift up and something
doesn’t quite feel right, set the hook. Once the
school of hungry bronzebacks gets fired up a
feeding frenzy ensues and strikes occur at any
point of your retrieve. Smallmouths absolutely
slam a blade resulting in a solid arm jerking
strike like no other freshwater fish.
Boat positioning can mean the difference
between a decent day and a phenomenal outing
on the water. The use of a bow mounted trolling
motor will allow you to stay with the fish as they
move around the flats chasing bait. Trolling mo-
tors have come a long way in the past few years
with the creation of spot-lock. Minn Kota makes
three models of trolling motors that all have the
spot-lock feature, the Ultrex, Ulterra, and Ter-
rova. These trolling motors have a GPS head-
ing on them and when prompted will keep your
boat locked in a five-foot radius. Once you push
the spot-lock feature, your motor will begin to
run itself and will keep you within that five-foot
radius. The motor will account for wind, waves,
and current. This feature is paramount when
fishing for schooling smallies on the Great Lakes
where maintaining proper boat control can be a
challenge.
While the trolling motor is engaged in spot-
lock, you can take your foot off the pedal, move
around the boat, net your fish and the boat will
not move at all. As soon as you have snapped a
few photos of your trophy, you can hop back into
your seat and fire your lure right back into the
school of fired up, hungry bronzebacks.
It is important to put the proper size trolling
motor on your boat. There are three characteris-
tics that you need to consider when selecting the
proper trolling motor; shaft length, thrust, and
voltage. These are all going to depend on the size
and shape of your boat. Many bass boat styles are
going to use the 45 or 52 inch shaft depending on
how far you want the prop to be under water.
Next is thrust. As the pounds of thrust in-
crease, so does the voltage required to maintain
that thrust. The rule of thumb to use is to use
2 pounds of thrust per every 100 pounds your
boat weighs. The weight of your boat should be
calculated with full tanks of gas, all of your gear,
and the maximum number of anglers that will
be fishing in the boat. I encourage you to round
up because it is always better to have too much
power and full battery levels when you get off
the water, rather than not enough power and dead
batteries while the fish are biting.
Lake St. Clair is legendary for producing
trophy sized smallies. On a good day you will
boat 50-60 bronzebacks with many tipping the
scales over six-pounds. Some savvy anglers
prefer fishing Lake St. Clair because they catch
more fish in a day than many lakes produce in a
week. There is always the possibility of landing
an eight-pound hawg trophy fish. The number
of five-pound plus smallmouth bass in Lake St.
Clair is simply astounding.
Blades also catch large smallies on many
inland lakes throughout Michigan, such as Kent,
Wixom, and Gull. These lakes will also heat up
quickly after ice out. Drowned river mouth lakes
on the west side of the state provide excellent
blade action as well. Muskegon and White Lakes
draw in monster smallies from Lake Michigan.
The bait fish start to pack themselves inside the
protection of the pier heads preparing for the
spawn. This makes the pier heads a great place to
start your search for these trophies.
When you see smallmouths on your graph in
deeper water, a vertical approach is hard to beat.
You can watch the fish follow your bait down to
the bottom and then feel a distinct thump and the
fight is on. When we are searching for fish we
look in areas that are relatively close to where
they are going to spawn. Shell beds full of zebra
mussels are a great spot. When fishing the shell
beds it is important to check your line and retie
often because the sharp mussels will nick and
weaken your line. You will notice the section 1 to
3-inches above your bait is the first to fray.
In my pursuit of trophy Great Lakes small-
mouth, quality gear is essential. My rod of choice
for fishing the blade is a G-Loomis IMX Pro
893C. This 7-foot 5-inch medium heavy casting
rod has quickly become my favorite. The rod has
an extra fast tip which provides excellent sensi-
tivity for feeling any subtle bites. I pair this rod
up with a Shimano Curado reel. The Curado is
very smooth and reliable, allowing you to make
very long casts to get your bait away from the
boat and the vibration from the trolling motor,
which can spook these large schools of fish. I
spool my reel with 15 pound Seaguar InvisX flu-
orocarbon. The fluorocarbon has a lot less stretch
than a monofilament line. The low stretch allows
you to drive your hooks into the mouth of the fish
and makes it harder for them to shake free with
their violent head shakes or legendary jumps.
When I am fishing Lake St. Clair, I tend to
use a larger blade bait than I typically would on
an inland lake, this means anywhere from ½ to ¾
of an ounce. On inland lakes where the wind and
waves tend to be a lot calmer, I’ll use a smaller
bait with a lighter rod and reel. When this is the
case I will go all the way down to a ¼ ounce
blade with a Medium action spinning rod and
8-pound fluorocarbon.
The Silver Buddy comes in both a gold and
silver color. There are plenty of other blade baits
on the market that come in several different col-
ors, but they are all still going to have the basic
minnow shape. The main factor that is going to
dictate which color I am going to use is water
clarity. When I am fishing clear water, where visi-
bility is greater than 2 to 3-feet, I am going to use
a more natural color. The minnow forage base in
the Great Lakes is typically a blue or silver color,
so I will use a silver or metallic color. This would
include any other natural looking color patterns
that are the same color as the forage base.
Smallmouths are sight feeders and tend to shy
away from lures that do not look natural in the
clear water. When the water gets dirty or stained
Captain Tony Yancey, Harrison Township,
holds up a giant Smallie taken on a gold
Blade Bait in six-feet of water not far from
Metro Beach.
where you cannot see your bait more than two
feet under the surface of the water, I use the gold
color. This is typically the case when fishing in
the spring due to the runoff from snow and large
rainfalls that occur in May. This is also a great
time to use bright and dark colors such as gold,
firetiger, pink, or chartreuse. These colors will
give off a silhouette in the dirty water and help
the smallies find the bait even when their sight is
hindered.
Once the days start to get longer and the ice
retreats from the lakes, you can count on Yancey
and me being in hot pursuit of a 7 pound trophy
smallmouth on Lake St. Clair. The first portion
of the season we will be chucking blade baits to-
wards every shell bed we can find. During spring
it is not uncommon to hook up with 50 or more
fish per outing, with several in the 4-5 pound
range. Lake St. Clair is such a fertile fishery and
is pumping out insane amounts of quality fish.
You never know when you are going to set the
hook on your personal best.
St. Clair is nicknamed by those in the know
“Michigan’s Smallmouth Capital” and for good
reason because the monster trophy bronzebacks
available is difficult to beat anywhere in the
country. Lake St. Clair is a massive body of water
and should be treated accordingly. Make sure that
you are prepared with GPS, life jackets, throw-
able PFD, and flares. The lake can turn violent
in a matter of minutes. So watching the weather
forecast, wind speed, and wind direction is cru-
cial. There are days where getting out on this lake
is simply not safe, but when the conditions are
ideal it can be the best fishery in the world.
What about you, are you ready to slam some
monster smallies? My suggestion is you give
Lake St. Clair a try and make certain you use
blades in the early spring. If catching giant 4-6
pound behemoths sounds great to you, plan now
for a trip this spring.n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 61
 Guest Column By Nathan Gray...Birthday, family and
OPENING DAY OF TROUT SEASON!
T
he sights, sounds and
smells of spring trout
fishing…is there any-
thing better? For me,
this isn’t just a hobby
or pastime, this is a
family tradition. April 28, my birth-
day (yes I was born on the opening
day of trout season—my dad loves
to tell people it was the only open-
ing day he missed) and as usual my
dad, brother and I are in pursuit of
our favorite fish to catch, “brook-
ies.” Being a rather cool morn-
ing, the fish were not particularly
active. But, around mid-morning,
my brother shouts out, “Guys hurry,
bring the net, it’s a big one!”
I’m going to leave you in sus-
pense for a moment, because for us
it’s not just about the fish but the
entire experience.
My favorite places in the world
are not far off, exotic or foreign,
beaches, countries or islands. No,
I prefer the backwoods ribbons of
rivers and streams that wind through
beautiful Michigan countryside.
This is God’s country, what I imag-
ine heaven will look like! Allow
me to paint a picture in your mind,
because you know full well I am
not going to give away our secret
spots! It’s a bit of a walk, but I don’t
mind, spring is my favorite season
with everything coming alive in the
outdoors. I follow a barely recogniz-
able path along the river, its sixty-
five degrees and the sun is breaking
through the canopy of giant syca-
mores and other hardwood trees.
The fall and winter’s old decay is
giving way to new growth on the
forest floor, fern coverage, sprawl-
ing trilliums and the smell of wild
leeks grab your attention.
I think I can almost understand
the song birds, their joyous chirping
sounds like a celebration of winter’s
end. It never fails, as I am lost in
awe of the beauty of my surround-
ings, a whitetail deer leaps out of
hiding. My heart jumps into my
throat as the deer bounds away, the
thought flashes through my mind
that perhaps that is my buck come
October!
I have finally arrived, the place
where the stream dumps into the
river, it’s not far now as I work
upstream to the “honey-holes.” The
stream curves, the water deepens,
and I can almost feel a decent trout
is near. I am here for the entire
experience, but no doubt, this is the
highlight. The water flows over the
rocks creating a deep, oxygenated,
cut out hole, a trout’s favorite hold-
ing spot. My six foot six Fenwick is
62 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
To experience such a day with his dad and brother, to witness and
assist his brother’s two master angler brook trout…the author
couldn’t image a better gift!
ready for a fight and today I am run-
ning the “medican” spinner (dad’s
code word for his go to trout lure).
I lay a perfect cast and slowly work
the spinner through the trout’s lair,
the anticipation builds. Suddenly,
the unmistakable strike of a brookie
sends a shot of adrenaline through
my body! No fish fights like this,
to me a brookie stands alone. Soon
I see the most striking colors a fish
could wear, the greenish black, the
vibrant orange, the speckles, the red
fins with white tips. Unfortunately,
my brother doesn’t even need to
grab the net as he stands watching,
its only a ten incher. I don’t mind
though, I felt the rod bend and was
able to lay my eyes on a brookie!
Ever since I could keep up with
my dad through the backwoods
brush, I have been a trout fisherman.
One of my most memorable father-
son moments was on a hot summer
night, dad was working the fly rod
and a hungry brown trout couldn’t
resist. I was still too young to even
net the fish, but I will never forget
carrying it back to the truck. Dad
laid the brown across the spare tire
in the bed of the truck, it reached
from one side to the other. In the
parts I grew up in, my dad was
known for his trout fishing prowess.
I joke with him that he should be a
guide.
For us Gray boys, trout fishing is
in our blood! One of the highlights
of the year, then, is the opening day
of trout season. So let’s get back
to April 28, my birthday, and my
brother screaming for the net. We
are back in the woods, fishing off
an old bridge with tubes running
underneath. My brother, Jordan, ran
a spinner back through the tube and
at first he thought he hit a snag…but
then the snag began to move like a
fish!
Now, brothers compete right?
To this point, I have the bragging
rights on bigger brookies, but all
that is about to change today. I drop
my pole, grab the net and position
myself by the tube. Dad excitedly
says, “Jordan, look at that pole bent
all the way around, that’s got to be
a dandy!” After what seemed like
an hour, the fish began to tire and
my brother was making ground.
That unmistakable coloring emerged
from the tube, it was a wall hanger
brookie! With one swoop of the
net, he wasn’t going to be the “one
that got away.” We all jumped up
and down, shaking hands and pull-
ing our phones out for pictures, it
measured 16 ¼” long! In the state
of Michigan, a master angler trout
needs to be 15” long. This was the
largest brookie my brother had ever
landed, tying my largest trout (and
remember, on my birthday)!
Well, that made our day and we
went to grab lunch before heading
out again that afternoon. Little did
we know, the day was going to get
a whole lot better. We pulled into a
favorite “honey-hole” of ours and
my brother and I made the first casts
on each side of the stream. I had
just reeled my spinner in when the
smooth creek (pronounced “crick”
by the way to settle the debate) wa-
ters exploded in front of my brother!
Once again, I scrambled to find the
net and dad and I were surrounding
him as he fought what appeared to
be another wall hanger. I couldn’t
believe my eyes, as an even larger
brookie emerged from the depths. I
quickly positioned the net and made
the assist on this once in a lifetime
trout. We were more in amazement
than anything as we stared at this
magnificent species. The tape mea-
sure made its second appearance of
the day; I laid it from lower jaw to
tip and the tape measure read 17” on
the nose! Not only the length bested
my brother’s first fish, but this one
easily outweighed the 16 ¼” from
earlier (we unfortunately didn’t
weigh the fish).
As the sun set on an opening day
for the books and we all sat quietly
content on the truck ride home, I
realized I could not have received a
better birthday gift from my brother
and more so from the hands of
God’s creation. To experience such
a day with my dad and brother, to
witness and assist the catch of two
master angler brook trout…what
could be a better gift! I was far
more content than if I had caught
those fish. You see, the fish are
always a bonus to a sportsman, and
the greatest joy is found in celebrat-
ing the catch with friends and loved
ones.
Speaking of that, I have two
boys of my own now who love
to fish and are begging to hit the
creek…who knows, Uncle Jordan,
maybe they’ll haul in that 17 ¼”!
Happy fishing, go find your little
piece of heaven and I hope you land
“the big one!”n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 63


TROPHY PAGE

Ron Pullis took this Jim Moyer Jr., 16-pointer he took with
muzzleloader at 35 yards on Nov. 15,
nice tom near Hale; field dressed at 225 lbs. and official Chris LaFountain arrowed this
Piarre LaFountain,15, took
9 inch beard and scored 193 4/8 nontypical and took monster Oakland Co. buck dur-
‘Best of Show’ at the Deer and Turkey
this trophy buck during the
23 pounds. archery season. ing the late archery season.
Expo.

Richard Wilson of Northville

Zane Gagne of Monroe with his 58 inch, 46 took this 8-pt., Montcalm A year of firsts for nine-year-old Brayden
pound sturgeon he caught in the Detroit River. Co., morning of Nov 15.
Bunker of Holt. He took his first buck and his
first turkey.
Brian Champnella
and his son Luke
of Grosse Ile had a
successful turkey
SEND US YOUR
hunt in Calhoun
County the first
week of the season!
TROPHY PHOTOS
wnw@pageone-inc.com
The father and
son team of Mark
and Jason Ha-
glund, of Harris-
ville and Madison
Heights, pulled
off a rare double
when they har-
vested these two
gobblers on Sat-
urday, 27 May at
8:15 am. This was
Jason’s first tur-
key, and the duo
were hunting Successful Sisters: Karianne Smith took David Slaga caught his
on Triple B Hunt largest northern pike to
her 8-pt. Dec. 17 in Berrien Co. Nicole’ date and was thrilled
Club property in Adams took her cow elk Dec. 13 near
Alcona County. to land it last July near
Atlanta. Gladwin.
64 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS

Gordon Stolecki/Keller, 9, of
Metamora shot this nice tom,
which had a 10” beard and 1”
spurs on April 23 with the help
of his grandpa and uncle.
Jason Rudd (above),
Rich Perry (rt) had suc-
cess fishing for Steel-
head at the 6th Street
dam in Grand Rapids.
Blake and Gary at 2017 salmon camp

TROPHY PAGE
Christopher Kroon of Lincoln shot his
Julia Holdsworth’s first Turkey! Opening morning, April
first turkey hunting near Lincoln. His 23, Jackson Co. bird with four beards (inset photo) and
tom weighed 18 lbs. and had an 8
inch beard with 3/4 inch spurs. was officially CBM scored 31.5 inches of beard and
1.25 spurs for a total score of 34 inches. According to
CBM records it will be the number three Jackson Co.
bird of all time and the women’s county record!
Ethan Wright of Rock-
ford caught this 15
lb., 27 inch lake trout
in Sept. fishing out of Drake Wright
with his first
Grand Haven with Top turkey, record
Shelf Charters. book!
Charlie
Gentner of
Mayville took
this 8-pt. at the Mason Crane, 17, of Manitou Beach
LCJD Ranch in
Missaukee Co. tagged a tom during the final eve-
We are thank- ning hunt of the season on
ful for QDM in May 6. His turkey had a 10 3/4 inch
the area and
seeing nicer beard, 1 inch spurs, and weighed in
racked bucks. at 24 pounds.
Vano Vandeberghe, age 16, took this coyote in Macomb Co., caught a monster smallie in
the Clinton River and caught this monster 8 pound largemouth bass in a pond in Macomb
County.
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 65
 Humor in the Outdoors - My Thoughts, My Views...
Man vs Fish…wasted tax dollars
to foot bill in winless battle
Dear Fish Diary:
B
angity bang, pop,
boom, clunk, clunk,
clunk, bangity bang.
No, that is not the
sound of my old Evin-
rude trying to turn over
after a long winter. That is the sound
of my truck driving into work every
day through downtown Lansing.
Every weekday as I seriously try to
avoid giving myself a concussion or
whiplash, I become more and more
frustrated.
It’s not the endless pitted roads
with potholes large enough
to swallow small children
that frustrates me. Believe
me, I can dodge potholes
with the best of them. I’ve
driven many two-tracks in
the backcountry that are
smoother than some main
roads going through town, I
can handle that. What grinds
By Ron St. Germain
me is that our
leadership
is willing to
continue to let our roads degrade to
unsafe conditions while we throw
away millions, and possibly even
billions, to stop a fish we’re NEVER
going to stop. I’d much rather see
that money go into law enforcement
to stop people from texting and driv-
ing, or schools.
Recently our Governor gave
away $500,000 in a spectacle event.
Now keep in mind, all of us had an
opportunity since last February to
cash in on sending them our bright
ideas. Our hope was that our brilliant
brainstorm would be selected and
we’d cash in on the prize. My idea
was simple and cost nothing. Educate
the public with positive knowledge
about how edible these fish are.
Change the Asian Carp’s name, quit
calling them a carp, put a “no license
necessary” target on their backs and
allow everyone to have away with
them until they’re gone. Unlike Il-
linois, who charged me a ridiculous
rate to go and pick away at a fish
they’ve been complaining about for
years. Seems like they’d pay me to
get rid of these flying finned torpe-
does if they were such a nuisance.
Ah, but that’s not how government
works I guess. Which, is why they’ll
be in our back yards before we know
it.
The Governor’s top four choices
for the cash giveaway?
Fourth place, an automated image
recognition and sorting system that
uses recognition software to divert
unwanted fish into a holding tank
for harvest while letting others swim
66 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
past. Hmmmmmm – Any questions?
Third place – A current created
within a lock system that fish can’t
swim against. It would be designed
to force flush each barrier clean be-
fore the ship can pass through. Any
questions?
Second place – Add chlorine to a
gated chamber that ships are moved
into, then, after the treatment is
completed, add sodium bisulfate to
detoxify the water before it’s released
back into the watershed. Key word-
ing here, the plan calls for “a care-
fully measured amount of chlorine”
since chlorine is lethal to just about
any aquatic organism. Any ques-
tions?
The winner? A bubble
barrier, ah, but not just
any bubble barrier. This
bubble barrier is made with
high speed propellers that
generate a wall of cavita-
tion bubbles that implode,
not explode, and emit high
speed jets of
water. The
thought is that
the noise of the propellers, and the
painful sensations of the imploding
bubbles would repel fish out of the
barrier. Any questions?
“Ah, yes you, in the back row,
with that perplexed look on your
face, with your eyeballs bouncing
around like rubber balls, scratching
your head, looking like you’ve just
been hit with an imploding cavitation
bubble.”
“Um, yes, ummmm… do any of
these actually work?” Silence…
Now I specifically did not use
any of the names of the winners
because I don’t want to undermine
their creative intelligence. However,
the state just gave away $500,000 of
our hard earned money and I want
to know if any of these grand ideas
actually work. I do know for a fact
that eating them will work. Just ask
a passenger pigeon or woolly mam-
moth…oh wait, there aren’t any, we
ate them.
At this point these plans pose
more questions than answers. In fact,
weeks later, the press conference
should still be going on. As of right
now, these plans will work no better
than my idea to release Great White
Sharks into the Great Lakes. Actual-
ly, releasing Great White sharks into
the Great Lakes might work better
than these unproven ideas because
the sharks are not run by electron-
ics, hard drives, programs, software,
electricity, hydraulics, barriers and
humans, all of which are subject
to malfunction at some point. The
thought of releasing sharks is actu-
My grand plan to release Great White sharks into the Great Lakes to
combat Asian Carp has a few snags, but then again, what plan since
1976 doesn’t have any snags? Ron St. Germain photo
ally the best idea because it’s increas-
ing the predator base. Predators are
the only defense against an invasive
species and that scientific fact seems
to be left completely out of the
defense plan. Oh, and by the way, we
are predators.
Since 1976 the Asian Silver
Carp has come from Arkansas and
penetrated 29 locks. Despite our
best defenses and bright ideas they
have infiltrated the entire Mississippi
River watershed and are now within
a few miles of Lake Michigan.
A few other facts kind of pick
away at me. Did you know that
the water flow of the Calumet and
Chicago shipping canal was reversed
by humans? The natural flow of these
channels is into Lake Michigan, they
now flow away from Lake Michi-
gan. Several times since this fine
engineering project was complete,
drought situations have threatened
to reverse the watersheds back to
their original flow. So, if these fine
winning systems were set up, and
let’s say they actually did work, if the
water flow reversed, all carp would
then be washed into Lake Michigan.
I know this is true because I read it
on the internet.
What is the difference between an
upright wall barrier and a barrier of
land separating watersheds? Noth-
ing. Invasive species have migrated
across unconnected bodies of water
since the 1800s and they are still do-
ing it today. So if a large section of
land mass won’t stop them, how will
an upright wall stop them? Accord-
ing to science that actually knows
something about wildlife, it will only
take five Asian Carp to cross the bar-
rier to create a breeding population.
Yes, five. And where are the beams
and bubbles to deflect the billions of
eggs?
What other invasive species have
we actually stopped? And why are
we dumping potentially billions of
our tax dollars into going toe to fin
with this particular one? Especially
since it’s one of the few invasive spe-
cies that is actually edible and prob-
ably healthier for us. Many invasive
species are wreaking havoc on our
native fish, including gobies, mus-
sels and alewives. Given the amount
of damage alewives do to our native
fish, and fish that would prey on
Asian carp, we actually kind of pro-
tect the alewives. Funny how things
turn. So, the party line says we’re
going to spend billions to protect
our billion dollar sport fishing
industry?
While I’m waiting for my next
shipment of Great White sharks, I’m
hoping to submit a bunch of ideas
that may or may not work in hopes of
getting Government money. Prison-
ers still escape from high security
prisons, so too will the Asian Carp
escape into the Great Lakes water-
sheds no matter how many currents,
chemicals, locks, barriers, face rec-
ognition rays and imploding bubbles
you throw at them. I’m patiently
awaiting their arrival and ready to
open “Ron’s Flying Fish Sunset
Cruise and Barbeque.” Wear your
helmet and come aboard…
Funny fish stories wanted:
Strangest thing you’ve ever caught.
Send a short description of your
“best or worst” fishing day, or worst
fishing-related adventure, or strangest
thing you’ve caught to me. You don’t
have to write the entire story, just a
brief outline of what happened. If it
has some humor to it I’ll be getting
in touch with you and we’ll work on
the completed story together.
Contact the author, Ron St.
Germain by calling (517) 626-2814,
e-mailing DaPhotoDude@aol.com.
Visit the author’s Facebook page
www.Facebook.com/Bearwave-
Booksn
 Hot Topics in the Outdoors...Get Involved!

Earn your outdoor fun this summer

with volunteer opportunities
I
stalked the stream in my
waders, watching it glow
in the sunlight where
it rushed over a few
rocks. I saw my quarry,
but instead of making a
backcast I reached under it with
a canvas net attached to a pole.
It wasn’t a trout, but a leaf pack,
partially submerged, likely to hold
stoneflies, mayflies or other aquatic
insects which indicate stream
health. I wasn’t an angler on this
day, but a volunteer on the Huron
River Watershed Council’s River
Roundup.
Volunteerism is the
heart of Michigan’s con-
servation ethic. Opportuni-
ties abound in our state,
especially in the summer.
They range from plant-
ing trees to cutting brush,
picking up trash to collect-
By Drew YoungeDyke
ing benthic
macroin-
vertebrates,
like the stoneflies and mayflies
we collect in the River Roundup
each spring. I started volunteering
specifically with the Huron River
Watershed Council because my
wife and I kayak the river, and by
doing this I feel like I’ve done at
least some of my part to earn some
of the fun that I’ll have.
We often say that “hunting is
conservation” due to the conser-
vation work which gets funded
through our hunting and fishing
Stewardship volunteer opportunities
license fees, and excise taxes on
our hunting and fishing equip-
ment. But if we’re being honest
with ourselves, then we know that
simply paying the minimum we’re
required to pay doesn’t make any
of us a conservationist. That takes
more.
A few years ago when I worked
there, I started a program at Michi-
gan United Conservation Clubs
called On the Ground. It’s a part-
nership with the Michigan Depart-
ment of Natural Resources that
primarily improves wildlife habitat
on public land state game
areas through volunteer
projects. We piloted the
program with a single
project, and had such
a great turnout that we
expanded it to 20 projects
each year, around the state.
Sarah Topp leads the pro- The author with a “trophy” leafpack, which volunteers will search
gram now for insects in an effor t to judge the stream’s health.
and has
a slate of volunteer opportunities. The Head- local chapters of conservation
projects lined up for the summer waters Chapter and Paul Young groups, so check with your local
including a joint project with the chapters will be doing a stream chapters of groups like those men-
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation access improvement project on the tioned above or the Quality Deer
in the Pigeon River Country State Sturgeon River on July 14 and 15. Management Association, Pheas-
Forest, and projects in the Atlanta The Sturgeon River, north of Gay- ants Forever, the Ruffed Grouse
State Forests, the Gladwin Grouse lord, is a blue-ribbon trout stream. Society, Ducks Unlimited, and
Enhanced Management Area, the Information about this event and many more. Or if you can’t make
Clinton River, and the Shiawassee others is available at www.headwa- it to a project, consider joining the
State Game Area. You can sign up terstu.wordpress.com. organizations hosting them – your
for these projects at www.mucc. On July 21, Lifestyle Lost – a membership dollars often provide
org/on-the-ground. Michigan-based outdoor apparel the tools, the lunches, and the orga-
Trout Unlimited chapters brand – is hosting its second annual nizational infrastructure to put on
throughout the state often have Grand River cleanup in Lowell, these projects.
followed by a Michigan Back- You help fund some of them
country Hunters & Anglers (BHA) with your hunting license dollars,
pint night. More information about
this event can be found at Life-
too. In 2013, the DNR established
a wildlife habitat grant program

in southern Michigan state parks styleLost.com.

Michigan BHA will host a
volunteer project of its own the
Want to get your hands dirty while helping to take care of and restore same weekend in the Pigeon River
natural ecosystems at some of Michigan’s state parks? By volunteering to Country State Forest. Last year,
collect native seeds, remove invasive species, conduct plant and animal Michigan BHA members submit-
surveys and more, you can do just that. A handful of opportunities will ted hundreds of public comments
be taking place in May throughout southeast and southwest Michigan. to help protect “the Big Wild” from
Southwest Michigan workday locations ORV damage. So this summer, the
• May 19: Muskegon State Park, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. chapter is putting its muscle where
• May 20: Warren Dunes State Park, 1 to 3 p.m. its mouth is and installing new
• May 20: P.J. Hoffmaster State Park, 1 to 4 p.m. “NO ORV” signs on forest roads
• May 26: Van Buren State Park, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 21. In true BHA fashion,
• May 26: Warren Dunes State Park, 10 a.m. to noon the event will be followed by a pint
Southeast Michigan workday locations night at the Snowbelt Brewery in
• Monday, May 14: Bald Mountain Recreation Area, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Gaylord. It’s rumored some chap-
• Saturday, May 19: Belle Isle Park, 9 a.m. to noon ter members will be camping out
• Saturday, May 19: Waterloo Recreation Area, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. somewhere in the forest the night
• Sunday, May 20: Highland Recreation Area, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. before, but you don’t need to be
• Sunday, May 20: Pinckney Recreation Area, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. a member to volunteer. A sign-up
More information about volunteer stewardship, including a calendar of will be available at www.back-
volunteer opportunities, is available on the DNR website. To register, countryhunters.org/Michigan_bha.
please complete and submit the stewardship volunteer registration form. Many projects are hosted by
which awards around $1 million
each year to groups undertaking
wildlife habitat restoration projects,
like Ducks Unlimited, U.P. White-
tails, the Ruffed Grouse Society,
and various county conservation
districts, which sometimes have
volunteer opportunities.
Having organized, managed or
volunteered on over 60 volunteer
projects, I can vouch that they’re
worth your time; not just for the
natural resource, but for you. It’s
not just that you won’t regret it;
you’ll love it, and you’ll probably
come back for more. There’s a
deep satisfaction in doing a good
day’s work for the natural resource
that we all enjoy. And when you
take to the stream with a rod in
hand, or climb a treestand on pub-
lic land this fall, you’ll appreciate it
even more.n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 67
 Hot Topics In The Outdoors...My Thoughts My Views...
Isle Royale moose die off?
T
he mid-April snowstorm
that blanketed Wisconsin,
Minnesota and Michigan
with up to two feet of
snow may have triggered
the beginning of a die off
of moose at Isle Royale National Park.
Veteran Isle Royale researcher Dr.
Rolf Peterson with Michigan Tech-
nological University in Houghton
said, “Isle Royale moose don’t do
well when winter hangs on.” He made
the comment as part of a presenta-
tion about the island park’s moose
and wolves at the Ore Dock
Brewery in Marquette on
April 14 as part of the brew-
ery’s Angry Bear Festival.
Storm warnings were posted
at the time, but it was not yet
known how bad the storm
was going to be.
The snow didn’t start
piling up in the
northern UP
until Sunday By Richard P. Smith
morning, April
15. By the time the snow stopped
on Monday, the entire region was
blanketed with snow and the two-day
snowfall total reached at least two feet
in some areas.
During a telephone interview the
following week, Peterson said there
have only been one or two moose that
have died of starvation on the island
over the last three years. The moose
that starved were old animals in poor
health.
“This year, with the late winter,
there could be more of them that die
of starvation,” Peterson commented.
Since the annual winter study
ended March 5, no one will be on the
island until May. Some of the park’s
first visitors this year may find the
remains of moose that died. If winter
moose losses weren’t significant this
year, they will be in the future. The
preferred winter food of moose, which
is balsam fir, is rapidly disappearing,
according to Peterson, and he said that
for the first time ever, during 2017 an
aquatic plant that moose eat during
spring and summer called watershield
was totally eliminated from the sur-
face of five lakes and ponds.
Watershield produces green oval
leaves about five inches in diameter,
with stems attached to the middle of
leaves. The leaves grow from a root
system that comes up from the bottom
in shallow water.
“Moose eat the entire plant,”
Peterson said, “They eat the leaves
from the surface and the root system
underwater.”
He added that watershield covered
the surface of five ponds and lakes that
are monitored on the island from 2007
until 2012. By 2013, the plant was
totally consumed from the smallest
68 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
pond. Watershield covering all five
bodies of water was totally eaten by
moose during 2017.
In response to a question about
whether any watershield will reappear
on the surface of any of those lakes
and ponds during 2018 Peterson said,
“It depends on how thoroughly moose
pulled up the roots. You can’t see
what’s below the surface of the water.”
If watershield is even partially
eliminated from most of those waters,
an important summer food source for
a growing moose herd will be reduced.
If that food source is gone, it
will have a major impact on
the health of island moose.
Balsam fir is so heav-
ily browsed by moose on
the west half of Isle Royale
during winter that the tree’s
future is in doubt on that por-
tion of the island. The source
of seeds from
mature trees is
almost gone and
young trees that
do sprout eventually die from over
browsing.
“We tagged 473 balsam fir trees in
1988 on the west half of the island to
follow their progress,” Peterson said. An antlerless bull on Isle Royale feeding on a stunted balsam fir.
“Ninety percent of those trees are now With the late winter, there could be more moose that die of star va-
gone.” tion on Isle Royale. Richard P. Smtih photo
When the park moose population years.” dence limits of plus or minus 580.
was at a low point and wolf preda- That would put the island’s In response to a question about
tion on moose was high between 2004 moose population at 2,500 by 2018. how many moose calves are born on
and 2010, winter moose browsing on The moose survey during 2016 was the island each year Peterson said,
balsam was reduced, according to Pe- incomplete, with only three-fourths “Three hundred to four hundred are
terson, and he said that enabled about of survey plots flown, but the number born and 200 to 300 survive.”
500 small balsams to flourish. of calves observed (139, 22% of the Given that information, there
“One of those trees that escaped total) was the second highest ever should have been between 1,670 and
heavy moose browsing even had recorded during the study. 1,770 moose on Isle Royale during
cones,” Rolf said, but that isn’t going “If the moose population grew 2017 and 1,900 to 2,000 before calves
to be enough to save the remaining fir by 15%, the 2016 population estimate are born in 2018. Peterson said their
trees from the growing moose popula- would be 1,440 moose,” Peterson moose estimate for 2018 is 1,500,
tion. and Vucetich wrote in the 2015-2016 down 100 from the year before. How
There’s no question the island’s annual report. “If predation rate in the can that be possible in the absence
moose population has been steadily past year was less than 4%, we would of wolf predation and winter starva-
increasing over the last six or seven expect moose population growth rate tion?
years due to the lack of predation by to have been greater than 17.6%, “It depends on how accurate our
wolves (only 2 wolves remain), but which corresponds to greater than moose estimates are,” Peterson said.
exactly how much is uncertain. The 1,470 moose.” “Using two airplanes is the most ac-
park’s moose population is estimated The moose population was esti- curate way to survey moose on Isle
each winter based on counts done mated at 1,600 during the first months Royale, but a second plane wasn’t
from intensive aerial surveys con- of 2017, but there could have been as available the entire time for the last
ducted by Peterson and other research- many as 2,238, using the 90% confi- survey.”n
ers. When the planning process for
My Thoughts, My Views, My Opinions
managing moose and wolves on the
island began during 2015, the moose
herd was estimated at 1,250 at the be-
ginning of the year before calves were Share your thoughts, views, opinions or shor t stories with
born. That estimate was an increase of
200 or 19% from 2014 at 1,050. Woods-N-Water News readers by emailing
“The moose population has been wnw@pageone-inc.com or mail to
growing at a mean rate of 22% per Woods-N-Water News, PO Box 278, Imlay City, MI 48444
year for each of the past four years,”
Peterson and John Vucetich wrote in Questions regarding Woods-N-Water News subscriptions,
the 2014-2015 annual report on Isle newsstand sales, Outdoor Weekend, stories, trophy page
Royale research. “If that growth rate contact our office Mon.-Fri. 9 am-5 pm 810-724-0254,
persists, the moose population will
double in size over the next three www.woods-n-waternews.com or facebook woodsnwaternews
 Hot Topics in the Outdoors...
Boat Smart...
GO GREEN
G
reen is the new state
of boating. Over the
history of boating,
especially the use of
outboard engines,
tons of pollutants
have been introduced into
the water we swim in, fish
in or even drink.
Many efforts are under-
way to address the prob-
lems created by decades of
pollution of our waterways.
There are companies who
have been working on solu-
tions for many
years. Solar
Captain Fred Davis
power, electric
power and propane are a few of the
variety of ways to reduce the pollut-
ants.
SOLAR
Turanor ‘PlanetSolar,’ the
world’s largest solar powered boat,
has been raising awareness of the
need to develop sustainable energy
since 2010. The 102 foot long, 50
foot beam vessel has less weight,
less friction plus efficient propul-
sion and production of energy. Its
catamaran, wave-piercing concept
design enables it to slice through
waves, using less energy than boats
that ride the waves. The deck of
5,700 square feet of solar panels
captures and stores energy.
In 2012 the ship circumnavi-
gated the globe exclusively by rays
from the sun. Owner and finan-
cier, Immo Stroher, invested $17.5
million developing the vessel and
stated, “It is my vision to see solar
power take its rightful place – not
only on rooftops but on roads, seas
and in skies of the future.”
Check the course of Turanor
PlanetSolar at www.planetsolar.org
and see what projects are currently
underway.
ELECTRIC
Elco Electric Launch is the
recognized premier manufacturer
of fine quality launches and electric
drive systems. Their high-efficiency,
electric drive systems are compact
and can be installed into new or
existing boats from daysailers to 36’
yachts. Elco pioneered
the electric boat over a
century ago; long before
gas powered vessels were
in use. The Elco Electric
Launch is available in 19,
24, 30 and 36 foot sizes.
Each is custom built which
determines final cost.
Elco
began offer-
ing electric
outboard engines; 5, 7 and 9.9 HP
models and has two in the 15 to
25-hp range. The company has
won numerous awards from
publications that recognize
excellence in design and
manufacturing. www.elcomotor-
launch.com
PROPANE
Lehr Propane Outboards first
patent was granted in 2008.
The company currently produces
five 4-stroke powered outboards
from 2.5 HP to 25 HP. The most
recent 25 HP has an optional
electric start and an integrated bat-
tery.
Capt. Bernardo J. Herzer, found-
er and CEO of Lehr said, “Propane
has no ethanol and does not degrade
over time, it is a powerful 110
octane fuel that is eco-friendly and
50X cleaner than gasoline engines.”
www.lehrmarine.com
Alternative powered vessels vary
and may have limited running time
and very leisurely speed over the
water. With restrictions being placed
on power boats on many waterways,
green boats will allow people to
continue to enjoy being on the water
plus truly relax at a slow, leisurely
pace.n
ULTIMATE
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to the security and endless variety of forage deer prefer
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Tom Carney
Among the Aspens
Award-winning nature and outdoor
writer Thomas Carney returns to
form in his latest collection of
essays, Among the Aspens: Stolen
Moments in Secret Coverts.
As with his previous collections,
Sun-Drenched Days, Two-Blanket
Nights; and Bird Dogs and Betty
Cakes, Tom employs a variety of
perspectives and presentations
as his writing glides effortlessly
across the lines that delineate
serious writing, humor, nostalgia,
analysis, description and storytelling.
Different this time around: Instead
of moving from activity to activity
with the progressing seasons as he
did in his first two books of essays,
in Among the Aspens Tom delivers
the goods through a single form
of outdoor recreation: upland bird
hunting.
To purchase: $34.95 (Michigan residents, please add $2.10 sales tax) plus
$6.35 postage/handling
Send check or money order to: Partridge Pointe Press, 2470 Strawberry
Farm St. NE, Belmont, Michigan 49306.
Purchase online at www.tomcarneywriter.com
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 69
 TRAIL CAM/OUTDOOR PHOTOS
Join us in sharing interesting and sometimes rare
trail cam and/or outdoor photos with our readers.
Send your photos to: wnw@pageone-inc.com (please submit in jpeg format)

Dustin Lakies shared this photo of a very nice Larry Hector captured this photo of a bald eagle feeding on a deer carcass.
Calhoun County buck from last season.

Larry Piotrowski shared with us this photo of a Beth Hilla sent us a trail cam of her in
broken tine 9-pointer taken in March. The buck stand and the only whitetail she saw
seems to know right where the camera is.
on opening day.

Richard Perry sent us some trail cam photos

taken near Lowell, taken from a tree picked Larry Piotrowski caught the reality of nature
out by 3 year-old, Richie Perry. Here they with this trail cam photo. He calls it the “Circle Kraig Staples caught this big bull elk
captured a red fox. of life.” on his trail cam in northern Michigan.
70 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
 MICHIGAN'S
NUMBER 1
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 71
 Sporting Collectibles...By Terry McBurney

Early spinning rods

L
ike many other beginning
anglers of my generation,
I started fishing with
an ordinary cane pole
baited with nightcrawl-
ers. Our Indian Lake
cottage came equipped with several
12-foot cane poles. One-piece poles
ranging from 12-footers to over
20-feet in length could be purchased
at just about any general store or
rural gas station back then. Several
years later, I graduated to a casting
outfit that my father had fished. This
hand-me-down combo included a
Pflueger Trusty casting reel mounted
on a Pflueger bronze colored hollow
steel casting rod that was just about
guaranteed to backlash on every one
of my amateurish casts.
Backlashes happily became a
thing of the past as I was later given
a series of spinning reels starting
with a not very good Pflueger Free (Left) This April 1949 Outdoor Life ad featured a photo of Bache H.
Speed and then a Waltco Ny-o-Lite Brown, the “father” of American spin fishing, and the new Airex Mas-
reel that fell apart after two weeks tereel. The Lionel Corporation had purchased Airex out the year before.
of hard fishing. Then on my 12th (Top) Two early 7-ft. bamboo spinning rods – the top one is an Airex
birthday in 1955, my parents gave bamboo rod and the bottom model is a South Bend bamboo rod that was
me a green Shakespeare 1755 closed designed by Joe Bates Jr., one of the era’s leading authorities on spin
face spin Wondereel – a fine, well- fishing. (Above) The top hollow steel spinning rod was made by Gephar t
made reel that I used for thousands shoot the line through the large line Manufacturing in Chicago. The bottom model is a True Temper steel rod
of casts…and still own today. It was guide and then through the rod’s line made in their golf shaft factory. It uses the same step-down process as
mounted on a 6 ½-foot white spin- guides. The angler would then rotate used to make True Temper steel golf shafts.
ning Shakespeare Wonderod with the reel 90º and wind the line in. was the addition of an improved Bache Hamilton Brown. He trav-
a 12-inch cork handle with sliding (See the Markle Rite-Angler Spin- drag – what I would call a dial drag. eled extensively throughout Europe
rings. I did not realize it then, but ning Reel description in my May The third improvement was the ad- and became quite familiar with spin
the rod was a classic design and 2018 Woods-N-Water News article dition of a “clicker,” so that when fishing during time spent in England
was similar in action and concept to entitled “It’s Still Out There,” pages line was being taken out against the and France.
many of the early spinning rods dat- 76-77. The Rite-Angler reel and the drag, the reel would make a clicking In 1935, Brown brought back
ing back to the late 1930s. Malloch Sidecaster reel are quite noise. Luxor reels, different examples
Early spinning reel design or similar in mechanics.) Other manufacturers started of spinning rods, lures, lines and
fixed spool fishing began over 125 The next key step of spinning developing their own spinning related accessories. Recognizing just
years ago with the invention of reel development was in 1905 when reels in France, Italy, Switzerland, how innovative and how easy it was
some sort of textile machinery such Alfred Illingworth of Bradford, Belgium, Sweden and Germany. to learn to fish with a spinning outfit
as a yarn delivery device where the England introduced the revolution- The key spinning reel to American as compared to baitcasting or fly
yarn would feed off the end of the ary Illingworth #1 “Thread-Line” spin fishing was the well-known fishing, Brown came to an agree-
spool. This concept was then adapt- spinning reel. His thin, round reel French Luxor spinning reel designed ment with Jean Pezon of Pezon et
ed to a fishing reel by Peter Malloch was designed to cast light silk lines by and patented by Paul Maubor- Michel to import Luxor reels into
of Scotland when he patented his and very light lures. Fishing reel gne in 1936. The actual reels were the U.S. The Bache H. Brown Com-
Malloch Sidecaster in 1884. The collectors describe his first and manufactured by the French com- pany of New York started importing
Malloch reel “incorporated a large second models as “egg beaters”. His pany L.L.M. for Pezon et Michel and advertising the Luxor reels in
spool, one-piece foot, large line third version came out in 1914 and of Ambrose, France, who was 1939 selling the Luxor reel for $17
guide with a round backplate with a introduced three new features – a their sole distributor. The person each, a 7-foot bamboo rod in an alu-
handle knob attached to that.” The reciprocating spool that went up and who brought the Luxor reels to the minum case for $22, or as a combo,
angler would make his cast with the down as line was retrieved – an ear- U.S., however, was the American which included the reel, rod and silk
spool facing forward. This would ly level-wind. The second upgrade architect, artist and sportsman, line, for $42 (July 1939 Field and

72 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS

Stream magazine).
WWII stopped Bache Brown’s
fledgling fishing tackle company
when France was invaded by Ger-
many. However, Brown’s com-
pany was up and running as soon
as hostilities ceased in 1945. Jean
Pezon patented the Luxor reel in the
United States and then assigned the
patent rights to Bache Brown who
later signed an agreement with Pe-
zon to manufacturer the Luxor reels
in the U.S. rather than importing
them. The first post-WWII Bache H.
Brown, Inc. Luxor ad was run in the
July 1946 issue of Outdoor Life pro-
moting the newly improved Luxor
reel, which was marked “Made in
the U.S.A.”
The reels were manufactured
by the Airex Equipment Corpora-
tion of Long Island City, New York.
An October 1947 ad from Outdoors
magazine promoted the Bache
Brown Mastereel for the first time,
and listed the Airex Equipment Cor-
poration as the manufacturer. The
Mastereel was similar to the Luxor
reel except that it featured several
improvements. It had an aluminum
spool, which also held more line
than before. It was better machined
than the American-made Luxor
reel, had sturdier internal parts, and
featured a simpler and smoother
drag. The newer reel, however, still
had several mechanical defects. It
did not have a click anti-reverse and
the drag nut still would sometimes
loosen when it was fished. These
flaws were corrected the following
year.
The next big change occurred
in January of 1948 when the Lionel
Corporation, known for manufactur-
ing Lionel model trains, purchased
two-thirds of the Airex stock and
started marketing Airex reels, rods,
lures and accessories. Not surpris-
ingly, Bache Brown was retained as
a consultant after the sale. Lionel’s
Airex fishing division lasted sixteen
years until Lionel sold it in 1964
to Feurer Brothers of White Plains,
New York.
The first spinning rods sold in
the U.S. were Tonkin cane bamboo
rods imported from France by Bache
Brown in the late 1930s. These were
7-foot two-piece bamboo rods with
a parabolic action, which meant
they bent equally from the butt to
the tip. They were a bit stiffer than a
fly rod and somewhat more power-
ful as well. The rods were equipped
with larger guides than a standard
baitcasting rod, because bigger
guides were essential. The line
would quickly whirl off the end of
the reel’s spool and smaller guides
could not handle the line. The other
identifying feature was the rod’s
cork handle. The handles ranged
from 12 to 14-inches in length and
came equipped with sliding rings
instead of a fixed reel seat.
Bamboo Spinning Rods
The two 6-strip bamboo exam-
ples in my collection are both 7-feet
in length and come with the extra-
long cork handles equipped with
slip rings. One is a beautiful Airex
rod that could have been made by
either the Thomas Rod Company of
Bangor, Maine or Gene Edwards in
Mount Caramel, Connecticut. The
second rod was made by the South
Bend Tackle Company and was
designed by Joe Bates Jr., one of the
leading outdoor writers of the day
and a spin fishing expert.
Metal Spinning Rods
I have owned or handled five
(Above) These three early hollow fiberglass spinning rods were made by
Horrocks-Ibbotson, an unknown manufacturer, and lastly by St. Croix (from
bottom to top respectively). (Left) This Airex Durod aluminum alloy spinning
rod came in two lengths – 6 ½-foot and 7-foot and date from 1947-1948.
completely different metal spinning
rods. The first was a 6-foot 1-piece
Shakespeare solid steel rod that was
painted with flat black paint. It was
a heavy “club,” and I would not
have enjoyed fishing with it. The
second steel rod was a remarkably
rare Heddon Deluxe Pal hollow core
steel rod that measured 7-foot in
length. It was Heddon’s first attempt
at making a spinning rod and was
manufactured for three years span-
ning 1949 to 1951. It came with an
extra long 13 ½-inch cork handle
with black sliding rings and black
nickel spinning guides.
The third steel rod was made by
True Temper at their Ohio golf shaft
plant sometime in the late 1940s
or early 1950s. The Spin Master
hollow core steel rod was built with
True Temper’s step-down process,
the same process used to make
step-down steel golf shafts. This
two-piece rod is 6-foot 8-inches in
length and breaks down just above
the 16-inch cork handle. It has a
sliding reel seat instead of simple
slip rings and weighs in at just under
6-ounces, only a little more than
what a 7-foot bamboo spinning rod
would have weighed!
The fourth steel rod was a
Gephart hollow steel rod made in
Chicago sometime in the late 1940s
or early 1950s. It measures an extra-
long 8-foot 2-inches in length and
feels more like a “noodle rod” than
an early spinning rod. A well-made
rod, it features a 13 ½-inch cork
handle with sliding rings and gold-
plated spinning guides. I especially
like their company’s motto – “Get
Hep with Gep”.
The fifth metal rod is an Airex
Durod Aluminum Alloy 2-piece
spinning rod. The rod was available
in two lengths, 6 ½-foot and 7-foot
It is extremely lightweight weigh-
ing only 5-ounces, is equipped with
a 12-inch cork handle with sliding
rings and dates from 1947-48. This
is a beautiful rod, and what I like
the best is the rod tube label that
reads: “This rod is unbreakable and
will resist becoming set [bowed] in
ordinary fishing. If it becomes bent
in an accident, such as closing a car
door or stepping on it in a boat –
straighten it out by hand or lightly
tapping it with a wooden mallet on a
piece of straight wood.”
Fiberglass Spinning Rods
Early fiberglass spinning rods
were made out of either solid glass
blanks or hollow glass shafts, with
hollow glass rods being the more
common. I have three hollow
glass examples in my collection: a
Horrocks-Ibbotson Berkshire 6-foot
8-inch 2-piece model made in Utica,
New York. This “Mohawk-branded”
rod has a 12 ½-inch cork handle
with sliding rings. My second early
fiberglass rod was a private label
rod made for Newaygo Sportsmen’s
Supply out of Newaygo, Michigan.
The actual manufacturer is not
known, however. This rod measures
7-foot and comes with a 12 ¼-inch
cork handle with a sliding reel seat.
The third fiberglass rod is an early
St. Croix model made in Park Falls,
Wisconsin. This rod measures 6-foot
3-inches in length and has a 12-inch
cork handle with slip rings. The St.
Croix rod has a modified parabolic
action with the beginning of a fast
tip and would make a very nice all-
around light action fishing rod.
By the mid-1950s both bamboo
and steel rods had just about disap-
peared from the American fishing
scene with fiberglass capturing 100
percent of the market. They were
easier to make, and you could cre-
ate just about any action desired.
Fiberglass also stood up well to
heavy use and to the elements, and
they were profitable and sold well.
This also meant the end of the early
spinning rods – bamboo and steel
rods were gone and fiberglass fish-
ing rods with better actions soon
replaced the parabolic rods. Regard-
less, it is fascinating to look back in
angling history to discover where
early spinning rods came from and
how they evolved.
Feel free to contact the author
at antiquefishing@comcast.net with
your questions. Photographs are im-
portant, so please send them. They
help me with identification and give
me an idea of the condition of the
item.n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 73
Gun Chat: M15 Snubnose
T
he Smith & Wes- years ago, I saw an M15 snubnose
son M15 revolver for sale at a sporting goods store. It
with two-inch barrel was the first I’d seen and it should
is relatively scarce. have been the first I bought. It took
Before the police many years for me to find another
went to .357s like the short M15. That M15 had been
Smith M19 and the stainless M66, Parkerized and the hammer, trig-
many departments issued four- ger and cylinder had been hard
inch .38 M15s. Detectives chromed. Since it no longer
were sometimes issued the had the original finish, I got
snubnose M15. The ones a slightly better price on it
who got M15s were better than on the first M15 I saw.
armed than those who car- Later, I traded a Colt
ried J-frames, in my opin- Cobra for another M15. It
ion. According to Standard is original with just a trace
Catalog of Smith & Wes- of blue wear on the left side
son, M15s were made from of the muzzle. It has a wide
1949 to 1999. “target” trigger. My
Other users of
the short M15s were
By Lee Arten first M15 has a nar-
row, standard, trigger.
Police Pistol Combat (PPC) match I shoot either type about as well. Two of the scarce snubnose
shooters. PPC matches sometimes I put orange finger nail polish M15 Smith & Wessons.
included a snubnose course. I’ve on the front sight of both M15s.
read, many times, that the short My eyes are aging but I can still see
M15s “...shot like four inch guns.” front sights on pistols. It does help being squared at the lower edge target. At 25 and 50 yards it’s easier
Now most police departments issue if they are painted red, or orange. the wooden grips are rounded off. for me to get my shots centered on
semiautomatic pistols. I don’t think Yellow or green sights may be in my Smith & Wesson used to do that a silhouette. I’ve also shot my M15s
they are as interesting as old duty future. routinely on guns that were intended at three, five and seven yards, and at
revolvers, like the snubnose M15. My second M15 still has the to be carried concealed. It’s a nice 50 feet.
Passing through Houghton Lake factory wooden grips. Instead of touch. I still may put rubber grips on Most of the ammo fired through
it sometime, or add a Tyler T grip my snubnose M15s has been
adapter. reloads. I use a mix of .38 Special
BOOKS/DVDS BY RICHARD P. SMITH While finding the second M15,
I missed chances at three nickel
cases, including Winchester, Rem-
ington, Speer, and surplus military
plated M15 snubnoses. I have blued cases. Ignition is provided by Win-
and stainless handguns, but some of chester Small Pistol primers. Pow-
TRACKING WOUNDED DEER my favorite guns are nickel plated.
M15s in nickel are even more scarce
der is usually Unique. Both guns
shoot the load well. I haven’t tried
Lots of NEW INFORMATION and ALL COLOR PHOTOS. and expensive than blued M15s. I them out with factory hollowpoints,
“A MUST FOR THE DEER HUNTER” ~ Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine still hope to find one at an affordable or with reloads made with the hol-
price. lowpoint bullets I already have.
LEARN HOW TO: M15 snubs are K-frames. They Maybe this year I’ll get around to
• Determine Type of Hit • Read Blood and Hair Sign hold six rounds, one more than doing so.
• How Best to Recover • Avoid Being Injured by Smith & Wesson J-frames. They are J-frame size snubnose revolvers
  Your Deer   A Wounded Deer also easier to shoot well. The M15 are easiest to carry. The short M15s
isn’t that much larger than a .38 aren’t much more of a problem.
Quantity Cost
____ *NEW* Tracking Wounded Deer - 3rd Edition ($25) _______
Special J-frame but the larger grip, I’ve carried one of them in an inside
____ Black Bear Hunting - 2nd Edition ($40.00) _______ does make shooting easier. Smaller coat pocket from time to time. They
____ Walking with Whitetails DVD ($24.00) _______ guns aren’t inaccurate, for the most can also work as holster guns. In
____ Deer Hunting - 4th Edition ($35.00) _______ part, but are harder to shoot accu- my overflowing holster box I have
____ Great Michigan Deer Tales - Book 6 ($16.50) _______
____ Great Michigan Deer Tales - Book 5 ($16.50) _______
rately due to short sight radius and a couple of belt rigs especially for
____ Great Michigan Deer Tales - Book 4 ($16.50) _______
light weight. The “target sights” on snubnose K-frame guns. I don’t
____ Great Michigan Deer Tales - Book 3 ($16.50) _______ the M15 snubnose look odd to some have a shoulder holster that would
____ Great Michigan Deer Tales - Book 2 ($16.50) _______ but seem fine to me. They are easier work with the M15s but that might
____ Great Michigan Deer Tales - Book 1 ($15.50) _______ to use than the rudimentary fixed be something to look for.
____ Deer Tales Set - 2 for $28; 3 for $40; 4 for $50; 5 for $60; 6 for $72 _______
Please specify which books sent to the same address. sights on most snubnose revolvers. Had I taken my M15 to the three
____ Stand Hunting for Whitetails ($19.00) _______ The ease of use applies up close gun match at a club near Sault Ste
____ Understanding Michigan Black Bear - 2nd Edition ($20.00) _______ and at distances where many people Marie years ago I’d have used a belt
SEND FOR YOUR ____ Animal Tracks & Signs of N.A. ($23) _______
AUTOGRAPHED COPIES TODAY. ____ TOTAL _______
believe snubnoses can’t be effec- holster. I opted to run a Browning
tive. My youngest son used to shoot Hi-Power, along with an AR target
Name on a junior pistol team and compete rifle, and a 12 gauge pump shotgun.
Address at Camp Perry. He fired one of my I was concerned that the handgun
City State Zip M15s at a silhouette target at 100 stage shots might be difficult to
yards once. Shooting two-handed, make with the M15. Turned out all
Phone # from standing, he managed to get the pistol targets were at easy ranges
Please remit by MasterCard, Visa, Check or Money Order.
Circle card type: a hand size group on the silhouette for any handgun. The only competi-
MC/Visa # at that distance. I decided to try it. tion my M15s have seen has been
Expiration Date Signature
My group was around six inches informal, man against man, steel
Make checks payable to: SMITH PUBLICATIONS
across and about four inches deep. plate matches. They worked fine.
814 Clark St. • Marquette, MI 49855 Unfortunately, it was high and right, It’s almost time to go out and shoot
www.RichardPSmith.com centered above the shoulder of the some steel with the M15s again.n
74 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
 Five-peaked daily rhythms of deer
T
he whitetail’s activ-
ity patterns are good
examples of rhythmical
behavior. Bursts discussed the 5-peaked rhythm in
of activity often occur
on cue at predictable
times, as do intervals of reduced ac-
tivity. Their daily rhythms are called
“circadian” (circa meaning about,
diem-day)because the cycles ap-
proximate 24 hours under constant
conditions.
Although whitetails are most
active around dawn and dusk
(crepuscular), they are capable of
considerable cyclic flexibility. Both
peaks of activity daily. Rue pre-
sented his data in the January 2001
issue of Deer & Deer Hunting and
his book “Way of the Whitetail.”
My findings were published in 1970
and 1972 issues of “The
Journal of Wildlife Man-
agement.”
In one study I moni-
tored the winter feeding
patterns of penned deer, us-
ing gateway switches con-
nected to an event recorder.
In other studies I recorded
deer traffic along deer
rather minor periods of rest. By
February, their early morning activ-
ity decreased noticeably during both
winters of study. In contrast, does
that were well fed during autumn
maintained the five basic feeding sunset. All deer exhibited a major
peaks throughout February,
1967, as did the fawns in
1968.
Nighttime feeding
gradually decreased in each
group as daylight hours in-
creased. Approximately 45
percent of the total activity
monitored in December
and January took place
varied among deer from day to day,
and was not closely associated with
sunrise. Even so, daytime cessa-
tion of deer activity appeared to be
strongly influenced by the time of
evening feeding peak, which nor-
mally occurred during the two hours
before sunset and ended abruptly.
Therefore, I firmly believe that the
timing of sunset largely sets the tim-
ing of other peaks of activity.
I recorded very similar activity
rhythms for wild deer wintering in
upper and lower Michigan. Not only
were the basic patterns similar,

internal (endogenous) and external
(exogenous) forces come into play.
Therefore, even within a given
season, the times of peak activity for
individual deer may differ, depend-
ing upon their age, reproductive
status, general health, metabolic
needs, and environmental factors.
As a result, secondary peak periods
of activity among individuals may
not be synchronized.
Aside from Leonard Lee Rue
III, and myself, I know of no other
deer biologists (or hunters, for that
matter) who have presented data
illustrating that whitetails have five
By John Ozoga
trails during winter.
Both investigations
revealed a very
distinct 5-peaked activity rhythm for
healthy deer. Deer fed most heavily
around sunrise, midday, sunset, and
twice during the night. This pattern
was most pronounced during De-
cember and January, but weakened
for fawns and malnourished does as
winter progressed.
Captive does that have been
subject to inadequate diet in autumn
showed the greatest deviation from
this pattern. In January, they fed
throughout the daylight hours, with
between sunset and
sunrise, compared to
30 percent night-
time feeding during March. Despite
the longer daylight, however, early
morning feeding largely ceased,
particularly in the case of malnour-
ished does and fawns, and the initial
peak usually did not occur until 2
or 3 hours after sunrise. In addition,
there was a tendency for deer to stop
eating prior to sunset. In March,
fawns displayed nearly 60 percent
of their activity between 10 a.m. and
6 p.m.
Onset of feeding in the morning
deer in both studies became very
inactive shortly after sunset and
sharply decreased their nocturnal
movements in late winter.
Since feeding by deer, particu-
larly in early winter, follows a cycle
of peak activity every 4 to 6 hours,
it would seem that the basic
rhythm is dependent upon endog-
enous factors. Researchers
studying other members of the
deer family, for example, have
proposed that secondary peaks
of activity may be related to the
feeding-rumination cycle imposed
by the deer’s digestive system.n

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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 75
Trapping FOX and COYOTE
Part I -- Herb Lenon Methods…By Asa Lenon
Introduction: Herb and Asa Lenon
are true pioneers in the trapping
world. Herb Lenon’s methods and
techniques are quickly approach-
ing a century since they were first
developed. Many modern trappers
have taken so many short cuts to the
principles listed here it’s a wonder
they catch any fox or coyote. The
techniques listed in this article are
no longer a secret but definitely
required if you want to be the
most successful trapper you can
be. You can visit www.lenonlures.
com and www.pcsoutdoors.com
for more good information on
trapping by Asa and Herb Lenon.
M
By John Chagnon
y father Herb
Lenon (1902-
1979) was one of
the outstanding
trappers of our
times. For fifty
years he was a consummate trapper
and trapper instructor both privately
and for the State of Michigan. Herb
authored eight books of trapping
instructions of which 15,000 copies
were sold between 1933 and 1959,
as well as distributing thousands
of free trapping tips pamphlets. He
was a regular contributor to “Fur
Fish Game” and “Trappers World”
magazines for many years. Many
of the best trappers of this century
learned from his instructions over
the years.
Herb was inducted posthumous-
ly into “The Trapper & Predator
Caller Hall of Fame” in 1981, “The
National Trappers Association Hall
Of Fame” in 1994, and “Michigan
Trappers Hall of Fame” in 1995
for his outstanding contribution to
the trapping fraternity. Herb’s life
story as a professional trapper has
been recognized with “The Trapper
& Predator Caller” and “Michigan
Out-Of-Doors” Magazines. Few
men have been recognized with this
respect and honor.
The following guidelines were
used and taught by Herb for many
years. Those who follow them on
their line will become successful fox
and coyote trappers, as many have
throughout the years.
Cleanliness
Cleanliness is an absolute neces-
sity for trapping a maximum number
of the intelligent and wary fox and
coyote. Human and other foreign
odors must be kept to a minimum
when at or near a set. Clean can-
vas or rubber dipped gloves must
be worn when handling traps and
equipment. Have a pair of rubber
76 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
footwear or shoe rubbers that are
worn only when at or near a set. A
knelling pad made of canvas or rub-
ber must be used when setting traps.
Blood must be removed from the
area of a set where an animal was
dispatched. Use a clean trap for the
reset if possible; if not clean the trap
the best you can by rubbing with
grass, evergreen boughs, or whatev-
er is natural to your location before
resetting. In warm weather wear a
sweatband around your forehead to
prevent perspiration from dripping
at or near your sets. Always remem-
ber that an animal that can follow a
rabbit track at a full run when it is
several hours old can certainly smell
a drop of sweat or strong odors on
your footwear such as gasoline for
several days.
Trap Care
Traps, stakes or grapple hooks,
and tools must be clean and so treat-
ed that they will not become con-
taminated by rust. Boiling in a solu-
tion of lye such as SANI-FLUSH
and water to prepare for dyeing will
clean new oily and extremely rusty
or dirty traps. New traps must have
a light coat of rust in order to accept
the dye. Dip them in salt water and
leave for several days or until coated
with a light coating of rust.
Traps must then be boiled in
commercial trap dye such as log-
wood or you may use tanning barks
such as oak, soft maple, hemlock,
or alder. Many trappers use walnut
hulls where available. Boil until the
traps are a dark blue-black color. It
is advisable to add some aromatic
tree branches to the second boiling.
They must be native to your local-
ity. Cedar, spruce, balsam, and pine
are excellent. Waxing traps will help
prevent rusting and extend their life.
It also lubricates them so they will
close more rapidly and not freeze
down as easily.
The quickest, easiest, and least
expensive method is to melt a good
commercial trap wax into the boil-
ing solution. Use about two ounces
of wax per square foot of solution
surface. When the wax is melted and
the solution is steaming hot, run a
wire through several traps and low-
ered them into the solution leaving
until they are the same temperature
as the solution. Slowly lift them
through the melted wax on the top.
If the wax is too thick they were
either lifted too slowly or too much
wax was used.
Repeat procedure if necessary
for the correct thickness. Use a file
to remove wax from the dog and pan
connection or the trap will release
too easily. Caution: Be extremely
careful when boiling traps in a mix-
ture of lye or dye and when waxing
traps. It is very easy to be burned
severely. One must always pay
close attention to the process, wear
protective gloves, clothing, and eye
protection, and keep children and
other people safely away.
Natural Looking Sets
To become an expert fox and
coyote trapper one must learn the art
of making sets look natural. Every
set must appear natural to the fox
or coyote or they may shy away. A
dirt hole set should look like a hole
dug by another animal. It may be
small like a gopher hole or large
like a woodchuck. It must not be
exceptionally smooth or extremely
rough, just natural. Guide sticks to
help place an animal’s foot on the
trap pan or trail narrowing twigs
or branches should be so placed to
appear as though they have grown
or fallen there. Bark, stones, or
little sticks placed around the set as
guides should not be placed in a per-
fect pattern. Do not try to crowd the
animal into the trap by placing piles
of brush, weeds, stones, etc. Use
only natural looking guides. Give
much thought and consideration to
this art and you will quickly see the
results.
Be Very Careful
Successful trappers have learned
to be extremely careful along their
trap line. Avoid making trails of
crushed grass, weeds, ferns, or
brush leading up to your sets. Avoid
leaving tracks near your sets. A fox
or coyote traveling along carefree
may immediately become cautious
or frightened upon detecting human
tracks or odors. Leave no sign to
arouse this fear or caution. If tracks
are unavoidable to complete a set in
sand or snow, carefully brush them
out for a considerable distance while
backing away. Be very clean and
careful, it pays well to be so.
Location
Location is the greatest factor to
success. The most perfect set ever
constructed will not produce in a
location where the animal does not
come or pass near frequently. Never
set a trap in any location unless you
are certain the animal sought has
frequented, visited, or passed by
very near. The best lure ever made
will not call animals for miles. Such
ridiculous claims by lure makers
should be a glaring sign beware.
Trapping a maximum number
of animals requires a lot of advance
prospecting for telltale signs such as
tracks, droppings, feeding signs, or
listening for coyotes to howl. Ask
people you know if they have ever
seen the animal in the prospective
locality in the season you are trap-
ping.
Fox and coyotes are gener-
ally found in back fields or grassy
plains during the fall where mice are
abundant. Both are generally found
in heavy cover during the winter
where snow is deep. Here they have
protection from the weather and
the most abundant supply of rab-
bits, grouses, deer, etc. both dead
and alive. Mice are still abundant
in open grassy areas but may be
protected by deep snow and fro-
zen ground. The locating of sets
in groups for animals that travel in
groups is a major factor in greatly
increasing one’s catch.
Fox and coyote have regular
travel routes. These may be where
they pass from one feeding range
to another or from a feeding range
to a hill, field, burning, sandy area
etc. where they come to play. These
routes may be down an old road
or railroad grade crossing a large
swamp or an old road or ridge along
a swamp edge where plains or open
fields meet the swamp. It may also
be the most open dry route in their
range or from one woods to another
across a field at its narrowest point.
Along these travel routes are the
places for group settings. Locating
these areas where they come to play
or coyote come to howl is the best.
If your group setting is located in
a play area, several animals may
be caught at one time when they
arrive to play. This is particularly
important in coyote trapping as the
remaining coyotes may not return
for a long period of time after seeing
one caught in a trap because their
range is much larger than the fox.
Many successful fox trappers are
failures at coyote trapping. This may
be because they do not consider lo-
cation as being as important as it is.
Fox have a smaller range and cover
it more often than coyote. The fact
that a trap set anywhere in a fox area
is more likely to catch a fox due to
their smaller range, leads them to
believe they can catch coyote with
the same tactics.
Wind Direction
Wind direction is a vital fac-
tor to success. Few trappers seem
to recognize its extreme value. For
the animal to detect the odor of
the lure, the wind must be relied
upon to carry the odor to them. To
take advantage of the wind you
must learn from which direction
it prevails in your locality in the
season you are going to trap. Here in
northern Michigan 80% of the wind
prevails from north, west, or north-
west during the late fall and winter
trapping season. Using northwest
as the prevailing wind direction
during this period, traps are set to
the north or west of the road or trail
where animals have been known to
pass. If traps are set in an open area
where no road or trail exists, they
are placed northwest of the animal’s
anticipated approach. The trap must
be downwind from the lure, lure up-
wind from the trap which is always
to be upwind from the anticipated
approach of the animal.
Visibility and Appeal
Many times there is no breeze,
the breeze is erratic or coming from
other than the prevailing direction.
Visibility must then be relied upon
to make a catch. The most important
factor of visibility is the eye ap-
peal of the set. Fox and coyote will
normally rear up on their hind legs
or go to a higher spot to look around
when they see or smell something
unusual. They have been seen do-
ing this many times when detect-
ing the odor of test scent that had
been placed. Assume the animal is
passing a set on a night when there
is no breeze or the breeze is erratic.
A tiny wisp of wind carries a short,
faint odor of lure to it. The animal
then rises up on its hind legs to look
around. If the set is made at a vis-
ible scent post, or a hole set made
in very short grass, smooth moss,
rotted wood or any place where it
is highly visible and appealing, the
animal is almost certain to investi-
gate. If the wind is from the other
than the prevailing direction, your
only chance is to have a visible set
that is appealing enough for the
animal to bother investigating.
There are other advantages to
having all sets highly visible except
where thieves are an extreme prob-
lem. If the animal does its cautious
sniffing a distance from the set, it
is less likely to detect any possible
trap odor. It will then approach
directly to the set with very little
caution. A direct approach will also
make it more likely the animal will
step directly on the critical small
area of the trap pan. Do not place
a set next to a large tree, stump,
embankment, or whatever, and no
heavy cover should be near the set.
This is not as important with fox
but extremely important in coyote
trapping. Many years of experimen-
tation with animals has proven that
a coyote will always take a last look
around before lowering its head. If
the coyote can’t see clearly in all
directions it becomes nervous and
jittery, many times leaving without
further investigation. This is a good
policy in fox trapping too as experi-
ence has taught that some fox will
also shy away.
Proper Lures
Many years of extensive test-
ing with hundreds of formulas has
proven that to attract fox and coyote
in maximum numbers, a lure must
contain high quality glands, musk,
and multiple ingredients. The lure
must appeal to the animal’s hunger,
sex, curiosity, and nature making
it a complete scent appealing to all
known calls of the fox or coyote.
The animal will then investigate
regardless of their mood at the time.
Lenon’s Fox or Coyote Super
All Call #1 And Fox or Coyote Su-
per Range All Call #2 are such lures
and were named “All Call” because
they appeal to all known calls.
They are a sticky long-lasting paste
consistency. On the market through-
out North America since 1924,
they have been proven to be highly
successful in any season or locality.
They were developed for maximum
results at the dirt hole type set but
may be used successfully at any
type set. Use a quantity the size of a
large red bean down in the hole and
the same amount on the upper lip of
the hole. For sets made at random or
in extreme cold weather, use twice
this amount. Super Range All Call
#2 is recommended for random
and cold weather sets. Urine is not
necessary if your sets are clean. If
in doubt, place five to eight drops
over the set and ten to twenty drops
down the hole. Never place lure on
your traps to cover odor, as they will
likely be dug out.
Lenon’s Fox or Coyote Nature’s
Call #3 liquid lures are designed for
maximum results at scent post type
sets in any season. Nature’s Call is
a base of female in heat urine with
powerful gland secretions, passion
additives, and curiosity ingredients
included. It is specifically recom-
mended for the winter set, as it will
call much further than plain urine.
It may also be used along with your
favorite bait at any type set to great-
ly increase the bait’s appeal and help
remove suspicion. Don’t skimp on
lure as it is a very small fraction of
your trap line expense; neither does
it have to be overdone.
Successful Sets
Expert and professional trappers
use many different sets and varia-
tions of each. However, several sets
have been chosen that have proven
to be the most successful and practi-
cal. Before constructing any set,
read the first part of these instruc-
tions thoroughly.
Preparation/Equipment
Select an area where you desire
to make one of several sets. Consid-
ering the prevailing wind direction,
look at the entire area over very
carefully. Select the spot or spots
where the dirt hole or scent post will
be most visible. Be sure the animal’s
approach will be level, smooth, and
noiseless as possible with no heavy
cover near the spot. If weeds, ferns,
roots, or small bushes are removed
from the approach, cut them below
ground level so no sign of their
removal is noticeable. Gather all the
tools necessary for constructing the
set. This will normally be a trowel,
hatchet, clean whisk broom for fin-
ishing the set, dirt sifter for rough or
gravely soil, trap, knelling pad, lure,
urine, and a trap pan covering.
Any good #1 1/2 to #2 trap for
fox and #3 trap for coyote is recom-
mended. A trap covering must be
used to prevent sand from getting
under the trap pan. This may be
waxed paper placed over the pan
and carefully tucked under the jaws
with a slit torn to go over the trap
dog. Avoid making several trips
back and forth. Put on your clean
gloves and footwear and proceed
directly to the set location. Spread a
30” X 36” kneeling pad directly in
front of where the set is to be made.
Lay all your equipment to one side,
kneel down on the pad, and you are
ready for the construction of a set.
Next Month…Part II The
Dirt Hole Set, The Post Or Blind
Scent Set, The Blind Trail Set and
more. Another excellent online
source for trapping information in
general is the www.trapperman.
com trapping forum run by Paul
Dobbins.n
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 77
Big bore accuracy
in the deer woods
T
he whitetail deer is
the number one game
animal in the United
States. When woods
hunting, the deer
cartridge should use a
bullet of 200-250 grains, that does
a reasonably good job of getting
through the brush. The 200 grain
bullet at 2,530 fps or the 250 grain
bullet at 2,250 fps is probably the
most deadly woods cartridge in
existence, not only for deer but for
elk and even moose. The projectile
should be fast opening for deer-
sized animals.
The above information comes
from Jack O’Connor’s renowned
book, The Hunting Rifle,
and is a near perfect de-
scription of today’s 450
bushmaster. Note that the
late Jack O’Connor was
a famous worldwide big
game hunter who was
shooting editor for 31 years
at “Outdoor Life” magazine
My Thoughts...
(circa 1943-1978).
I grew up reading
Jack O’Connor. His
By Joe Delaney
book, The Hunting
Rifle, is a must read
in my opinion, for every Michigan
deer hunter. It’s informative and
entertaining. Its material is timeless.
I have two high end 450 Bush-
master rifles and love them both. I
have shot others and they all seem to
shoot well. I’ve taken multiple deer
each season since the new “straight
wall regulations” went into effect
for southern Michigan several years
ago. I used both Hornady 250 gr.
and Remington 260 gr. ammunition
to kill deer. It’s good, clean ammo,
very accurate (sub m.o.a.), but it’s
just too good. That is, it’s probably
ideal for 300 pound wild hogs and
400 pound-plus animals, like elk
and moose. Shoot a deer in the spine
or in the neck or both shoulders,
and they drop like a sack of pota-
toes. That’s great. However, shoot
a mature buck through both lungs
just behind the shoulder and get a
probable run off of up to 100 yards
before expiring.
I shot two mature deer this year
with different rifles and different
factory ammo, both were 70-80 yard
run offs. Note: one deer, an 8-point
buck, I shot through the right shoul-
der and lungs. No blood trail! In
other words, on whitetails the .450
rifles shoot good, but the bullets do
not expand! I have talked to other
hunters and even so noted on Face-
book. Run offs are a real complaint!
What’s the answer to this
78 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
problem?
I did some reloading then went
shooting with Hornady 225 gr.
FTX bullets loaded at 2300-2500
fps. Carefully using Hodgdon’s
published data. (I scale every load.)
I compared factory 250 gr. FTX
ammo directly side by side with my
reloads. The results are amazingly
positive and this is my story.
Anatomy of the Whitetail Deer
If you have ever field dressed
a deer you know it’s not composed
of a consistent gelatinous block of
transparent jelly. On the contrary,
it’s a flexible, approximately one
inch thick hollow haired skin on
the outside and variable amounts
of hard and soft tissue and
internal organs inside,
protected by different size
and density bones. My lay-
ered test targets had sheets
of paper between every
layer to make it possible
to measure expansion rates
and projectile fragmenta-
tion potential. Even
when traveling at
almost 2500 fps into
targets of seven one
inch pine and/or
hardwood maple, no bullet fragmen-
tation of any kind was evident.
Furthermore, no reload bullets
keyholed and accuracy was equal to
prior factory ammo shooting tests.
Shooting Tests Format
Three Test shooting Essentials:
• Accuracy: Without scope
adjustments, as with factory ammo
reloads ,print dead on at 50 yards.
• Distance: At 100 yards dis-
tance, my 2400 fps reloads print
1”-1 ½” high with a loosely held
forearm. No scope adjustment nec-
essary here.
• Certified loading data: Using
Hodgdon published data guidelines
at their website, all of my preferred
loads are well below pressure
maximums. The “accuracy load” of
my test rifle for 225 gr. hand loads
provide about 200 fps increase over
factory 250 gr. loads and stays well
within all pressure limits.
Flatter trajectory with no
increase in apparent felt recoil, is
just the beginning of some of the
benefits of my hand loads. Note, that
both of my .450 rifles have MagNa-
Port brakes.
Due to the limits of time and
space, excluding hunting, on all of
my shooting tests I used just one
rifle, my Bohman Arms 22 inch bar-
rel 450 Bushmaster.
Further, consider also that in
Hornady, 9th Edition Reloading
The author’s targets after testing.
Handbook 37.9 grains of Hodgdon
Lil’Gun powder drives a 250 gr.
FTX bullet at 2200 fps on a 16”
barrel. On the Hodgdon website 40
grains of Lil’Gun powder drives a
225 grain bullet at calculated 2400
fps on a 22” barrel. This below
maximum load is my pet load. By
my tests then, my hand loads of-
fer near similar internal chamber
pressures with flatter shooting, no
increase in recoil, with greater target
impact; i.e. real knock down power
on deer-size animals.
Internal Ballistic Comparison Test
The insides of my composite
targets (approximately 7” thick)
were encased inside of 8” card-
board boxes whose end flap make
an ideal hanger stapled to the top
of the target backboard framework.
As previously mentioned, the value
of this limited test is an attempt at
exact internal ballistic comparisons
between the factory ammo and my
hand loads. Not just for accuracy,
not just for expansion rate, but also
bullet (apparent) weight retention.
Prior to test shooting, I built these
layered composite targets that offer
comparisons at three levels of resis-
tance for deer size animals.
These levels are light resistance-
just under the skin; medium resis-
tance-chest shots through skin then
light tissue, lungs then ribs, skin
and egress; and heavy resistance,
like heavy muscle and bone through
both shoulders.
One of my layered targets was
as follows: Arrow target foam, 6”
thick, covered by heavy 1” nap car-
pet backed by 1” hardwood board.
Each layer separated by paper sheets
to measure projectile shape at every
level of penetration. Also included
were other layered targets of simi-
lar materials for various resistance
comparisons.
Because the average deer in
Michigan is taken at 65 yards, all
compression targets were shot at 50
yards off the bench. As mentioned
previously, my final accuracy tests
were at 100 yards. There were two
riflemen, myself and Lee Holman,
a fellow member of Perch Point
Conservation Club.
Here’s a list of materials and
technical assistance resources that
helped make this story possible.
- Lee Precision Inc.: reloading
tools: www.leeprecision.com
- Hodgdon Powder: reloading
data: www.hodgdon.com
- Hornady Mfg.: bullets & ammo:
www.hornady.com
- Starline Brass: new .450 brass:
www.starlinebrass.com
- www.OutdoorLife.com>Jack
O’Connor
- MagNaPort International, Inc.:
www.magnaport.com
Conclusion
This limited internal ballistic
review may not be per the scientific
method, but its results draw some
legitimate interesting conclusions.
For example; factory .450 ammo is
certainly accurate, probably ideal for
big-bodied elk and moose, but too
hard for deer. It won’t mushroom.
Expansion rates on some layered
targets show exit holes measuring
only .662 at 38% for 250 gr. factory
ammo versus 225 gr. reloads out
to 1.039” which is at 130% expan-
sion. Note diameter for .450 bullets,
unfired is .452. All test bullets on all
targets flew straight with no yawing
or apparent fragmentation even 225
gr. FTX reloads when shot at 2500
fps, into seven 1” hardwood boards.
225 gr. Hornady FTX, moderately
loaded to 2400 fps, with good ac-
curacy, has no increase in recoil or
muzzle jump. Excellent reloads!
However, what’s needed for the
average Michigan deer hunter is
designated factory ammo that
will feature “an oversize impact
diameter that means more impact
trauma, better energy transfer and
large wound cavities for faster
knockdowns.”
Goodbye to double lung run
offs.n
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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 79

 Spring bird migration
F
or many birders and other
wildlife watchers, spring
is just like Christmastime.
The return of Michigan’s
migratory birds from
their southern wintering
grounds is cause for celebration, and
many celebrate by heading to the
fields, forests and wetlands to view
these colorful harbingers of spring.
Many of Michigan’s migratory
birds spend the winter in the tropical
areas of Central and South America,
where food remains abundant all
winter long. Many birders consid-
ered these neo-tropical migrants,
like warblers, tanagers, buntings and
orioles, the jewels of the treetops.
With their bright breeding colors,
these are the dazzling birds that
many wait all year to see.
“I love birding in May,” said
Andrew Simon, a Macomb County
resident and avid birder. “It’s the
peak of migration and marks the
return of my favorite birds – shore-
birds and warblers.
“Warblers are so bright and
colorful and always moving, so
watching them is always fun and
exciting.”
Michigan is located largely
within the Mississippi Flyway, but is
on the western edge of the Atlantic
Flyway. Flyways are north-south
routes regularly used by large num-
bers of migrating birds.
The juxtaposition of the two fly-
ways, paired with our Great Lakes
habitat, makes Michigan an out-
standing place to observe a variety
of migratory birds, from waterfowl
to hawks to shorebirds to neo-tropi-
cal migrants.
When southerly winds blow in
the springtime, you can expect to
80 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
By Holly Vaughn…MDNR
see waves of migrants coming north
on the winds. Watching the weather
reports can be an effective method
to tell whether your next morning of
birding will be a productive one.
“There’s a great website that the
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
maintains called BirdCast,” said
Michigan bird conservation coordi-
nator Caleb Putnam. “The site gives
you real-time information about the
bird migration that’s occurring in
your backyard. It’s a great tool for
planning your birding trips.”
Using the U.S. NEXRAD
weather surveillance radar network,
BirdCast can detect large concentra-
tions of migrating birds by sensing
the water in the birds’ bodies. Be-
cause many birds migrate at night,
checking the radar at night is a good
time to see if birds are headed your
way.
“Large circles of blue forming
just after sunset are an indication
that the radar is picking up bio-
logical targets like migrating birds,
rather than rain, snow or other pre-
cipitation,” said Putnam.
If the bird forecast is promis-
ing and you’re looking for a place
to find birds in Michigan, there are
some great public lands for you to
check out. Michigan’s state parks,
along with state game and wild-
life areas are a great place to start.
There are also several birding trails
throughout the state, each with
incredible places to stop and take a
look around.
You also might consider head-
ing to one of Michigan’s Wetland
Wonders. If you are a beginning
bird-watcher, getting out on a bird-
ing field trip held by an Audubon
group or other club is a sure way
to quickly develop your identifica-
tion skills, with knowledgeable trip
leaders able to identify bird songs
and calls.
Leaders also can provide a
wealth of tips for identifying various
species by field marks, behavioral
traits and habitat types.
Beyond state public land sites
for locating migrating spring birds,
there are funnel points where birds
congregate in migration, like White-
fish Point in Chippewa County,
Peninsula Point in Delta County or
Brockway Mountain in Keweenaw
County.
“These places can provide a
stunning morning of bird-watching
during spring migration,” said John
Pepin, DNR deputy public infor-
mation officer. “Males are decked
out in their vibrant bright spring
colors and are singing as they set up
nesting territories and try to attract
mates.”
Brockway Mountain, near Cop-
per Harbor, is a fantastic place to see
hawk migration.
Another great location to find
migrating birds is in your own back-
yard. Some of the colorful favorites,
like indigo buntings and rose-
breasted grosbeaks, are attracted to
sunflower-seed feeders.
Baltimore orioles, and some
other species, are attracted to
oranges. Cut an orange in half and
secure it to a tree or post, with a
perch nearby. Keep an eye or an ear
to the backyard.
MDNR photo
Migrating birds are also attract-
ed to bird baths.
Sharply marked beautiful spring
warblers can pass through an area in
flocks containing several species.
A good tip for trying to get a
good look at warblers is to locate
movement in the tree branches and
look there with your binoculars. Of-
ten, the bird will pop into view from
behind leaves or branches.
“Male warblers can be identi-
fied by their facial patterns,” Pepin
said. “If you focus on the faces of
the males, it will make identifying
species easier.”
He said another good tip is to
use range maps in a bird field guide
to study which warblers are likely to
be found in your area before you go
out to look for them.
“Looking up each of these spe-
cies in a field guide, studying their
field marks and reading about these
birds beforehand definitely helps
folks identify birds more easily in
the field,” Pepin said. “The same
can be said for listening to their
songs.”
The Cornell Laboratory of Orni-
thology’s “All About Birds” website
is a great source for bird identifica-
tion tips and song samples.
Whether you’re watching out
the window in your own backyard,
visiting a Wetland Wonder or a state
park, or taking a birding hike, you
never know what beautiful, dazzling
“presents” you may find under and
in the trees.
Get some family members or
friends together for a spring birding
outing in Michigan this month – you
too may find that the experience will
remind you of a joyous Christmas
morning.n
32 Annual - Woods-N-Water News

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WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 81
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ups, boat ramp and docks,
check/money orders payable to Woods-N-Water News. Classified ads can not be HUNT CLUB surrounded by NFS land. Quiet,
billed and once a classified is processed no refunds can be made. Limit of 75 words.
peaceful, lots of wildlife! 231-
All classifieds posted to our website FREE! FOR SALE: Membership in mid 1-2 BUCK HUNTING CLUB
723-7321 www.cohobend.com
Forest Lodge Hunting Club. Prime MEMBERSHIPS IN
Use one of these useful classified categories... hunting and fishing - 18,000 acres, N O R T H E A S T E R N RR-4-7
A = Archery FP = Food Plots HW = Help Wanted SM = Snowmobiles four season hunting and outdoor MICHIGAN Quality club, camp
ATV = ATVs FW = Firewood M = Miscellanous T = Taxidermy activities, 11 lakes. Located 15 min. and facilities (also turkey, small
B = Boats G = Guns RE = Real Estate TK = Trucks game) West Branch - Hale area. TRAILS END RESORT
D = Dogs H = Hunting RR = Resorts/Rent TR = Trailers south of Houghton Lake in beautiful
F = Fishing HL = Hunting Leases RVC = RV’s/Campers W = Wanted Roscommon County. Call 989-429- Tremendous value and opportunity. ON BIG MANISTIQUE
Stag. $1,375 per year. See: dynami- LAKE, Curtis Michigan -
F = Free 3084. HC-6-1
cra.com or phone Dan 989-893- Hunting, fishing and sightsee-
JULY 2018 CLASSIFIED DEADLINE JUNE 4, 2018 ..............................................
5819. H-5-2 ing. 2 Bedroom modern house-
.............................................. keeping cabins. Boats, motors
CLIP AND MAIL
HUNTING BERGLAND UNIT: Guided and pontoon rentals. Call 906-
Woods-N-Water News Classified Advertising bear hunts over bait. State and
Federal licensed bear guide. Call
586-3515. R-5-2
(Please print clearly. We are not responsible for unreadable orders.) 2018 MICHIGAN BEAR
Make sure phone number is included in your ad! HUNTS: Newberry/Gwinn. Rich 715-663-0459 or upbearhunt.

NAME Just outside of Seney Wildlife com H-5-4 HUNTING LEASE

Refuge. High success rate.
ADDRESS 34 years. State and Federal li-
censed and experienced. Guar-
CITY                                           STATE                      ZIP anteed active baits. 6 nights, 5
day hunt includes lodging and
DAYTIME PHONE NO. meals. Start at $750. Bow and
rifle deer hunts. $125 per day.
VISA/MASTERCARD#                                                       EXP: 906-439-5242.
www.buckspportinglodge.com.
CLASSIFICATION OF AD                      MONTHS TO RUN H-5-4
HUNTING PROPERTY:
600 ACRES AVAILABLE
just north of Alpena, Michigan.
Property is surrounded by
private hunt clubs. Could pos-
sible split acreage, $1,000.00
per acre. Call 586-438-0157.
H-6-6
SMALL GAME HUNTING
LEASE Cedarville E.U.P. Second
week of October. Comfortable,
modern hunting cabin. Large tract
of land with good trail system. 906-
647-2011 esc413@centurytel.net
HL-6-1
..............................................

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
HUNT WITH US AT BEAR
(7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) MOUNTAIN FOR YOUR
2018 BEAR HUNT. We are
(13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) now offering hunts in both the
Baraga and Amasa BMU’s on
(19) (20) $30.00 $30.25 $30.50 $30.75 Private property in the heart of
prime Bear country. Check out our
$31.00 $31.25 $31.50 $31.75 $32.00 $32.25 website at www.mibearhunt.com or
give us a call at 800-676-9821.
$32.50 $32.75 $33.00 $33.25 $33.50 $33.75 References available upon request.
H-6-1
$34.00 $34.25 $34.50 $34.75 $35.00 $35.25
BEAR HUNTS: Baraga
$35.50 $35.75 $36.00 $36.25 $36.50 $36.75 Unit. Be our guest at AA
LODGE. All inclusive. 5 day
Enclosed is $                                               for
hunts. $1000 - $1500. Call Roy
words to run                     months. BOX MY CLASSIFIED - $5 Extra 810-691-3373. H-6-3
82 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
ALBERTS BEAR GUIDE
SERVICE: Bergland and Baraga
units. Federal license, 26 years
experience. Call 906-231-9136,
Home 906-827-3731. H-5-5
..............................................
GONZO BEAR CAMP - Bear
Specialist - We had 80% success.
Baraga, Gwen and Amasa Units -
Modular hunts start at $995. 7 days
lodging included. Write for more
information on how to apply for bear
permits on May 1st - 2730 S. Dort
Hwy., Flint, MI 48507 or call Dale at
(810) 814-8936 days 9-4 or eve-
nings John at (989) 257-2725 for
more information www.gonzo-
bearcamp.com. Like us on
Facebook. H-4-5
WANT TO LEASE
2 RESPONSIBLE QDM
HUNTERS looking for 2018 deer
hunting lease within 1 hour of Ann
Arbor. Gun and/or Archery. Call/text
Rob 616-862-1858. WL-6-1
..............................................
ARCHERY DEER LEASE
WANTED. Jackson, Kalamazoo,
Ann Arbor area. 2 responsible, long
time hunters, looking for good mix
of timber and crops, 100 acres
minimum. Call Joe 708 670-3725 or
Larry 248 765-1901. WL-3-4
..............................................
More Classifieds Next Page
 Woods-N-Water News Classified Section
FOR RENT
REMOTE DELUXE HOUSE-
KEEPING COTTAGES. Great
fishing for walleye, northerns, bass,
perch and lake trout. 519-636-3697
www.foxsdenlodge.ca. FR-4-3
..............................................
REAL ESTATE
CAMPGROUNDS FOR
SALE One in the U.P. with Great
Lake frontage $485K. Two in North
Central Michigan $700K each.
Briggs Realty www.briggsrealtyon-
line.com 616-942-1071. RE-6-1
..............................................
HIGGINS LAKE MICH. Est.
1978. Higgins Lake, 10 acres hunt-
ing property, 1/4 mile off I-75, exit
244, $39,000. Trails, gun, blind, two
person tree stand. Land contract
terms or cash discount. 989-915-
9656. Leave a message. RE-6-3
..............................................
HIGGINS LAKE MICH. Est.
1978. Higgins Lake, 2.5 acres, 1/2
REAL ESTATE
180 ACRES CHIPPEWA
COUNTY: Hunt, fish, hike or
snowmobile. 180 acres with
trails, blinds, and food plots.
Adjoins thousands of acres of
public land, 13 miles south of
Sault Ste. Marie, less than 2
miles to boat launch and the St.
Mary's River. E.U.P. hunting
and fishing camp, the 1100 sq.
ft. home and 32x42 garage will
satisfy most as a year round
residence. A great buy at
$250,000. Call 989-390-0362.
Details Craigslist and Zillow.
RE-6-3
BEAR AND
GUIDED HUNTS, also
DEER
guided side by side rides in the
U.P. We hunt all over Newberry
BMU and ride the rest of the
U.P. on unmarked trails. Trust
someone that grew up in the
REAL ESTATE
CONSTRUCTION/
RESTORATION BUSINESS
FOR SALE AT HIGGINS
LAKE MICH. Est. 1978.
Excellent reputation. All tools and
equipment included. Skytrack with
accessories, three enclosed trailers,
office space, office equipment,
framing finish tools, ladders, all dry-
out equipment, retiring, will work
with new owner 6 months. 989-
915-9656. RE-6-3
..............................................
COTTAGE FOR SALE: 2
bedroom, 1 bath cottage on
Whitefish Lake, Ont. area.
Includes extra bunkhouse that
sleeps 3, 12x16 garage, 24x30
barn, 200 ft. lake frontage.
Cabin also includes electricity,
deepwell, septic system &
washer and dryer. $138,000
U.S. Funds. 231-263-4545.
RE-6-1
REAL ESTATE
SPORTING GOODS
BUSINESS in N/E MI
with wide range of products,
guns, ammo, hunting, fishing,
camping and outdoor gear.
Turn-key operation with lots
of room for growth. Excellent
hunting, fishing and camping
nearby. Owner retiring. Asking
$149,900 plus inventory 989-
351-8256. RE-4-4
FOR SALE WOODED LOT
ON SABLE RIVER that feeds
Hamlin Lake. Off US-31 and Free
Soil Road. All state land nearby.
$26,900 Call 616-396-4015. RE-6-
1 natural gas, pond, 1.5 miles of
..............................................
CALL OR TEXT ME IF
YOU HAVE 20 OR
MORE
VACANT LAND TO
ACRES OF
SELL. In a reasonable time
REAL ESTATE DOGS
PRIME 50 ACRES IN
GERMAN SHORTHAIR
HILLSDALE COUNTY.
POINTER PUPS: Males
Numerous hunting blinds and tree
and females available. Excel-
stands placed throughout. Silver
lent hunting dogs and superb
Creek runs through. 28 x 32 pole
family pets. Close working
barn. Two bedroom mobile home.
dogs with strong point and
Turn key, many amenities included
retrieve instincts. Reasonably
in sale. $235,000. Call Lorraine at
Faust Real Estate, LLC 517-605-
priced for the sporting family.
Money back guarantee. Eulen-
6950. RE-6-1
hof Kennels, Gladwin, MI.
..............................................
http://www.eulenhof.com
989-426-4884 D-6-2
191 ACRES IN
MICHIGAN’S UPPER
Classifieds
PENINSULA. Access is from
a paved county road. Includes a
34 acre hay field. The remain-
work!
ing 157 acres are wooded. Has
drivable trails. Good deer, bear,
grouse and rabbit hunting.
(810) 724-0254
Surrounded by large tracks of
private land. $199,000. 906-
Monday-
446-3261. RE-6/18-TFN
Friday
9am-5pm

Subscribe
mile off I-75, exit 244, $6,250. Land U.P. and hunted everything at a fair price. I have good
contract terms or cash discount. there is to hunt. Lodging, food 80 ACRES OF PRIME qualified buyers looking for
and a good time. Call 231-620- Hunting or Farm Land with
or try our
HUNTING LAND IN

Today!
989-915-9656. Leave a message.
0398. H-6-4 HARDWOOD, MI (Upper some woods in the thumb
RE-6-3
Peninsula). Good trails throughout; area. Tom Kinzer, www.just-
..............................................
mixed timber including several landsales.com 586-419- website
Classifieds Work! acres of hardwoods. Legal access 6716 t.kinzer@hotmail.com
(810) 724-0254
directly from county road.
$78,900.00 RE-4-4
RE-5-3 (810) 724-0254 woods-n-waternews.com
email: wnw@pageone-inc.com • website: www.woods-n-waternews.com

  PAGES 83-89 44 ROLLING ACRES, Private gated set-

ting, abundant wildlife & creek running
through the property. Hammond Bay
Refuge Harbor on Lake Huron is only a
mile away. L/C terms may be considered.
Major price reduction! $35,000 #300943

518’ LAKE NETTIE. Affordable up north

get-away on a quiet all sports lake. 3
bedroom, 2 bath mfg. home with a large
deck overlooking the lake. Great fishing,
swimming & year round sporting activi-
ties. Reduced to $137,500 #308591

150’ ON THE CHEBOYGAN RIVER! Won-

derful building site located just on the out-
skirts of town at the start of the famed Inland
Waterway. City sewer to site. Gently sloping
for walkout basement. Deep water allows for
large boat mooring! $119,900 #306688
Carol Steiger, Associate Broker
(231) 627-9991 Office
(989) 351-0110 Cell
email: carol.steiger@remax.net
846 S. Main, Cheboygan, MI
www.liveupnorth.com
North

WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 83

 WATERFRONT PROPERTIES Tuesday, June 5
Online Auction Bid from 8am-2pm
Bid on a variety of waterfront properties on this 1 day, online only auction.
Featuring:

2 Parcels on Croton Dam Pond - Lakefront Lot on McCoy Lake Lot on Lake Michigan
Selling separately or together Featuring a vacant McCoy Lake, lake- 75’ of sandy Lake Michigan frontage
Parcel A: Featuring a cottage on 1.27 front lot. This 220’ deep lot has 145’ of on the northern edge of Silver Lake
acres situated on the Croton Dam Pond. frontage on quiet McCoy lake near the State Park. Selling with NO RESERVE.
Parcel B: Featuring an adjacent 1.35 end of a dead end road. The lot falls 75’x150’ lot has experienced erosion
acre parcel of vacant land also with gently from the road to a flat area and and will require some restoration.
frontage on the Croton Dam Pond. then slopes again to the lake. 2917 N Lakeshore Drive
6351 E. Division St. McCoy Lake Rd. Mears MI 49436
Newaygo, MI 49337 Gaylord, MI 49735
For detailed information & to bid
visit LASTBIDrealestate.com.

HORSEHEAD LAKE HILLVIEW LAKE

EAST OF BIG RAPIDS, In the very desir- EAST OF BIG RAPIDS. Huge waterfront
able Hidden Harbor development, 75 Ft. lot lots, ranging from 2.68 acres with 237 ft.
with a great view for your walkout. $99,000 frontage to 8.9 acres with 300 ft of front-
age. Priced from $99,000. Build your
HORSE PEOPLE
dream home or get-away.
10 ACRE PARCELS IN HORSE COUN-
TRY, 7 Miles west of Big Rapids, a stone’s LARGE 2 BEDROOM CABIN/COTTAGE
throw from 5,000 Acre Manistee National with fireplace and deck on 4.15 Acres with
Forest trail system. High walkout sites. 589 ft. frontage. Great fishing and recre-
$30,000 ational lake. $189,000
RYAN CREEK
A LARGE CREEK that looks like a small river. East of Big Rapids. Beautiful building sites.
16.88 Acres, $59,500 • 34.28 Acres, $87,500
Jack Frizzell
(231)598-6700
http://jackfrizzell.fivestarmichigan.com

ALL SPORTS BITELY LAKE 200’ TOWNSEND LAKE 115’ MOONBEAM LAKE 200’ HONEYMOON LAKE OXBOW LAKE ACCESS
3 BD, 2 BA 3 BD, 2 BA 4 BD, 2 BA 1 BD, 1 BA 0.9 Acre
MLS 18015819 $144,900 MLS 18016224 $139,900 MLS 18016701 $112,900 MLS 18017351 $94,900 MLS 18013079 $13,500

5 ACRES M/L 1+ ACRE, 1200 SQFT. 20 ACRES M/L 10 ACRES M/L IDLEWILD LAKE ACCESS
1500 Sqft., 3 BD, 2 BA 2 BD, 1.5 BA 2404 Sqft., 4 BD, 3 BA 1060 Sqft., 2 BD, 1 BA 0.62 Acre
MLS 18012676 $69,900 MLS 18015242 $80,000 MLS 18016049 $139,900 MLS 18016371 $89,900 MLS 18017835 $6,000

Looking for Affordable Vacation Property?

LAND CONTRACTS ARE AVAILABLE
Call us today & get started on the path to owning
your own little piece of Northern Michigan!
84 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
 15+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE &
OVER 70 MILLION IN SALES

ING
END
P

Arenac County, 40+/- Acres, Au Gres, Arenac Co, 167+/- Acres, 3,500+/- ft Barry County, 12.5 Acres, Calhoun County, 74 Acres, Calhoun County, 67+/- Acres Clare County, 1+/- Acres
550+ ft. of Lake Huron Frontage, Duck Lake Huron, 6 Bedroom Lodge, Guest The Ultimate Deer Hunting 1/2 Tillable ,1/2 Wooded, 300 ft. All Sports Prairie Lake, 1360 Sq/ft Cabin, Located
Hunters paradise, Great Build Spots! Cabin, Great Duck & Deer Hunting. “Honey Hole.” Trophy Buck Genetics Tillable Acreage near many lakes, snowmobile trails
$185,000 $599,000 $29,900 $280,000 $275,000 $49,500

Jackson County, 537 +/- Acres,

Clare County, 70 Acres, Mixed Excellent Duck, Deer & Turkey Hunting. Jackson County, 105+/- Acres, WRP Lapeer County 102+/- Acres, Trail Mecosta County 70+/- Acres, Midland County, 80 Acres
Woods, Creek, Food Plots, Cabin, Area of Other Large Property Owners. Program, Mature Hardwoods, Great System, Mixed Hardwoods, Pond, Mixed Hardwoods and 12 Miles to Mount Pleasant,
Great Deer/Turkey Hunting. “Man Cave” w/Game Cleaning Station. Deer, Turkey & Waterfowl Hunting Food plot areas, Tons of Deer Sign. Tillable Land with Pond Excellent Hunting
$167,500 $1,074,000 $211,000 $380,000 $154,500 $176,000

Newaygo County, 40 Acres

Missaukee County, 46+/- Acres, Missaukee County, 80 Acres, Custom Newaygo County, Newaygo County 4+/- Acres Newaygo County, 8.5+/- Acres, 32x48 Pole Barn with Water &
Excellent Hunting Setup, Built Home, Wrap-Around-Porch, 1+ Acre Lot Sites, Muskegon Riverfront, New cabin, Custom Built Home, Wildlife Electric, 20 Ac Old Apple Orchard, 20
Mosquito Creek Frontage 4 Beds & 3.5 Baths. Muskegon River Access. Beautiful landscaping, Secluded woods. Galore, Class A Trout Stream Ac Hardwoods, Great Hunting
$87,500 $350,000 $37,000 $220,000 $239,900 $199,000

Newaygo County, 50.5 Acres, Custom Newaygo 80 Acres, Secluded Cabin, Newaygo County, 125 Acres, Three Newaygo County, Croton Twp, Ontonagon County, 169 Acres, Osceola County, 160+/- Acres, Trail
Built Home, Secluded, Wildlife Galore, Rolling Hardwoods, spring fed lakes, Excellent Deer, 160+/- Acres, Mature Timber, Cabin, Extremely Secluded, System, Near Reed City, Tons of
4 Beds & 2.5 Baths. Big Buck County. Turkey and Waterfowl hunting Loaded With Deer/Turkey Wildlife Galore Deer and Turkey Sign, Food plot areas
$550,000 $275,000 $375,000 $399,000 $160,000 $359,000

I NG
END
P

Roscommon County, 480+/- Acres,

Osceola County, LeRoy Twp, 141 Osceola County, 163+/- Acres, Great Presque Isle County, Presque Isle County, 47 Acres, High Fence Deer Rach, First Class Wexford County 80+/- Acres,
+/- Acres, Easy access to US-131, Trail System, Awesome Hunting, 80 Ac., Creek Frontage, Cabin and Pole Barns, Lodge and House, 120’x60’ Pole Barn, Hunter and Snowmobiler Paradise,
Large Pond Rolling Hills, Must See! 24x24 Garage, Excellent Hunting Great Hunting Quality Deer Herd. Adjoins National Forest
$211,500 $290,675 $90,000 $99,000 $2,900,000 $249,900

SELL YOUR PROPERTY WITH US!

BLAKE VER WOERT: 616-308-3122
JAKE DYKSTRA: 616-916-8354
CURT BRYAN: 616-745-2759 WWW.WILDLIFEREALTY.COM
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 85

VISIT OUR WEBSITE TODAY!
statewiderealestate.net
• Houghton
Marquette
• Newberry
Iron Mountain • Manistique •
• Gladstone
Escanaba •
• Powers
Menominee •
Marinette
Contact Your Nearest State Wide Real
Estate Office To Buy or Sell In Michigan
ALPENA
1100 W. Chisholm, 49707
email: alpswre@speednetllc.com
989-356-2142 • Fax: 989-356-2144
ALMONT
844 Van Dyke Road
lafrancesharon@yahoo.com
810-798-8591 • Fax: 810-798-8079
14938 State Street, P.O. Box 98, 49746
email: statewidehillman@yahoo.com
CURTIS/NEWBERRY
Main Street, P.O. Box 305, 49820
email: dick@statewideofhoughton.com
email: swcurtis@sbcglobal.net
906-586-9606 • Fax: 906-586-9607
ESCANABA
2209 Ludington Street, 49829
1285 S. Michigan Ave., Howell, MI 48843
email: escanaba@statewiderealestate.net
906-786-1308 • 800-900-0777
Fax: 906-786-1388
GLADSTONE
1401 Delta Ave.,
Gladstone, MI 49837
906-825-9000
email: judy@statewiderealestate.net
HARRISVILLE
430 S. US-23, 48740
email: sold@anjstatewide.com
989-724-5711 • 800-655-5735
Fax: 989-724-6833
86 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS
Offices Serving Lower &
Upper Michigan
Bringing people and places together since 1945
Curtis • Tract #1
•
Linden •
HAWKS
8383 Hwy. 451, 49743
email: rita8383@yahoo.com
989-734-4846
HILLMAN
989-742-4523 • 800-228-7856
Fax: 989-742-3931
HOUGHTON
500 Shelden Ave., 49931
906-482-6955 • 800-676-6323
Fax: 906-482-7699
HOWELL/LINDEN
email: statewid@earthlink.net
517-546-9060 • 800-531-4449
Fax: 517-546-9148
IRON MOUNTAIN
231 East A. St.
Iron Mountain, MI 49807
906-828-2525
Fax: 906-828-2727
email: steve@multistatewide.com
MANISTIQUE
10 N. State Highway M-149
Cooks, MI 49817
906-644-2304
email: dekeysermary@yahoo.com
2
t#
ac
Tr
Onaway
• • Hawks
Hillman
• Alpena
•
• Atlanta
Mio • • Harrisville TROUT RIVER PROPERTY!
S.W. MICH., CASS COUNTY
114 Acres in two tracts each w/ ½ mile of Dowagiac
Creek frontage, a designated trout stream. Beautiful
• Almont
shores, gravel & sand bars, mature woods & pines,
Fishing pond & another small stream. Great building
Howell •
sites. SEALED BID OFFERING by 7/16/18.
Go to www.jerdon.net for complete details.
32502 M-62 West, Dowagiac MI 49047
Contact Tom Jerdon (269)782-4000
tom@jerdon.net
MARINETTE, WISCONSIN
1460 Marinette Ave., 54143 WINSOR TOWNSHIP • HURON COUNTY
O N L I N E O N LY
email: statewidemarinette@yahoo.com
715-735-9964 • Fax: 715-732-1107
MARQUETTE
856 W. Washington, 49855
email: sw@statewiderealestate.org
906-228-9312 • Fax: 906-228-8069 AuctionJ u n e 13 t h - J u n e 1 4 t h
156 Acres · 2 Tracts
MENOMINEE
3631 10th Street, 49858 +/-
email: statewideone@newbc.rr.com
906-863-9905
Tract 1: 66+/- Acres
Geiger Rd
Fax: 906-863-7935
Tract 2: 90+/- Acres
MIO Features:
102 West 8th St., P.O. Box 395, 48647 1 Broderick Rd • Tall grass and small brush
email: info@statewidemio.com
• Small ponds provide water sources and
S Caseville Rd
989-826-3292
Fax: 989-826-2108 adjacent cropland provide feed sources
for deer and other game animals.
ONAWAY
Haist Rd
• Small building envelopes with remainder
of tracts enrolled in conservation easement
M-33 & M-68, 2
P.O. Box 478, 49765 • Hunting and other recreational
email: bigdan@frontier.com uses permitted.
989-733-6522
Fax: 989-733-2427 • Wind lease provides rental income.
Recreational/Hunting tracts located near
POWERS
W3776 US2 & 41, 49874 Caseville, MI & 45 miles from Tri Cities
906-497-4190
Fax: 906-497-5328
Owner: Eldon & Peggy Voelker
Mark Williams: 989.635.0086 ext. 24
holly@statewiderealestate.net
HLS# MAW - 12143
HRES, MI Auct. Lic. #6505264076 800.424.2324 | halderman.com
 WEST BRANCH HALE WEST BRANCH
R S ALE R S ALE
M-33/M-55 OFFICE F O OFFICE F O LOOP OFFICE
1953 S. M-33 3160 North M-65 2575 S. I-75 Business Loop,
West Branch, MI 48661 Hale, MI 48739 West Branch, MI 48661
10 miles north of I-75 exit 202 “Gateway to Huron National Forest” 1 mile north of I-75 Exit 212

Local: 989-345-2662 Local: 989-728-2540 Local: 989-345-0315

Toll Free: 800-535-6520 www.CAHANES.com Toll Free: 800-495-2540 www.CAHANES.com Toll Free: 866-345-0315

“UP NORTH” GETAWAYS AND YEAR ROUND HOMES

OVER 3000 SQUARE FEET!!
4-bdrm, 2.7 baths, appliances, master suite,
cathedral ceilings, 2 bdrms on each floor, full
walkout bsmt, 2.5 ACRES, finished garage,
large deck, privacy fence and much more!!
$209,900 1837404
TRANQUIL FAWN LAKE!
Lovely and spacious 3 bedroom home with ac-
cess to “no motor” lake. AC, partly finished bsmt,
master suite, garage, deck, newer shingles &
laminates!! Seller giving carpet allowance!!
$149,900 1838336
20 WOODED ACRES!!
Bedroom home on full bsmt /2 car garage. Main
floor laundry, recently updated kitchen & bath,
large covered rear deck with beautiful views and
trails for nature walking or the hunter!!
$154,900 1840412
SECLUDED HUNTING CAMP!!
18 WOODED ACRES w/2 bedroom home is the perfect
place to call your hunting cabin that is also ADJACENT
TO STATE LANDS!! Propane lights, range, refrigera-
tor, wood heat, gravity tank and wired for generator!!
$64,900 1805656
NEAR RIFLE RIVER!!
Neat 2 bedroom cabin with large fenced yard in
Skidway Lake area. Natural gas heat, newer roof,
newer water pump & shed with electric & hose wa-
ter hook-up. Great getaway also near many lakes!!
$24,500 1838322

NEAR LAKE GEORGE!!
Recently remodeled 3 bedroom, 2 ba w/garage on 2
lots at end of cul-de-sac. Open floor plan, gas log FP,
newer floorings and newer counter tops. Enjoy the public
access and boat ramp at this desirable all sports lake!!
$74,900 1840493
4 ACRES!!
Spacious 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath home w/garage and heat-
ed workshop and pole barn. AC, front & rear decks, full
bsmt, paved driveway, maple & apple trees & more!! With
some TLC, this could be your year round country home!!
$129,900 1839823
VILLAGE OF PRESCOTT!! RIFLE RIVER FRONTAGE!!
Nice 2-bdrm home on large corner lot Fantastic property with the ultimate river
w/2 car garage. Affordably priced for year views and possible place to build your new
round or getaway and newer roofing was home or weekend getaway. Excellent fishing
installed in 2017!! and kayaking!! Adjacent lot also for sale!!
$38,000 1845231 $29,900
PRIVATE LAKE ACCESS!!
Enjoy access to “no wake” lake w/this 3-bdrm, 2 full ba
home with oversized garage, open floor plan, laminate
and tile floors, newer roof in Feb 2018, AC, custom oak
cabinetry & natural gas heat. Definitely move in ready!!
1843577 $129,900 1843357

GREAT LOCATION!!
2-bdrm home in need of some work but has
1400 square feet, wood floors, full bsmt, paved
driveway, 2 garages and on AN ACRE of land.
Not far from town and all sports Lake George!!
$69,000 1844224
1.44 ACRES!!
Spacious 3-bdrm home in need of some TLC, but has
been painted and newer flooring has been installed.
Open floor plan, enclosed porch, wood stove, base-
ment, a bath on each floor and large garage!!
$69,900 1838514
NEAR RIFLE RIVER!!
This one bedroom mobile home would make a
pleasant getaway on an ACRE of property and
near lakes and the beautiful Rifle River for fan-
tastic fishing and superb canoeing/kayaking!!
$25,000 1831259
OVER 5 ACRES!! POPULAR SAGE LAKE!!
Gorgeous custom built 3 bedroom, 2 full ba home has 3-bdrm, 2 bath on almost a half acre with
over 1800 square feet, cathedral ceilings, floor to ceil- 108 feet of frontage on all sports lake! Full
ing windows on both levels, large deck, pond & heated basement, beautiful views, AC, FP, garage
garage. Beautiful setting w/RIFLE RIVER FRONTAGE!! and home is well-maintained!!
$174,900 1839528 $269,000 1844387

BEAUTIFUL LAKEFRONT LOT!!
60’ water frontage on 330 acre all sports Forest
Lake and potential site to build your new home
or vacation retreat. Also near acres of State
lands and the gorgeous Rifle River!! LC terms!!
$39,900 1844821
WATERFRONT ACREAGE!!
212 feet of frontage and just over 4 ACRES
on all sports, 42 acre Elbow Lake! Electric
and driveway already in, gentle slope to wa-
ter, beautiful views and potential building site!!
$99,900 1844067
10 ACRES!!
Gorgeous property, mostly wooded, with
spacious 4-bdrm home on full basement.
Has wood burner, plenty of storage, porch
for relaxing, beautiful views and much more!!
$105,000 1843928
PEACH LAKE WATERFRONT HOME!!
60 feet of frontage on this all sports 208 acre lake
w/this 3-bedroom, 2 ba home. FP, newer furnace,
roof & flooring, a place to dock your boat, fan-
tastic views from lakeside deck & storage shed!!
$114,900 1843392
GORGEOUS LAKE FRONTAGE!!
Over a half acre of wooded property on all
sports Lake Ogemaw!! Gentle slope to water,
paved road, possible LC terms and potential
site for your new home or weekend hideaway!!
$69,900 1790612

NICE YEAR ROUND HOME!!
Pleasant, move-in ready 3 bedroom home with at-
tached garage, natural gas heat, AC, private master
bath, jetted tub, deck, covered porch & the soothing
sounds of Ogemaw Creek which runs thru property!!
$89,900 1845464
ON CHANNEL TO ELBOW LAKE!!
3 bedroom home w/detached garage, nice
kitchen w/pantry, island & breakfast nook,
master suite, nice views from wrap-around
deck, on an ACRE with your own pond!!
$149,900 1810533
SUPER NICE SUBD!!
BEAUTIFUL waterfront lot on 330 acre all sports
Forest Lake and potential site for your new home or
getaway. Also near acres of State land and gorgeous
Rifle River. Many great amenities in subdivision!!
$43,000 1824102
OPEN FLOOR PLAN!!
This possible 2 bedroom home sits on nicely treed
lots and is not far from many lakes and the gorgeous
Rifle River for excellent fishing and canoeing/kayaking!
Newer and windows in 2013, some furnishings & more!!
$31,900 1830854
ON CUL-DE-SAC!!
Nice 3 bedroom home with 2 car garage and access
to BUSH LAKE for boating, swimming and fishing.
Large kichen, FP, natural gas heat, front and rear
decks, paved driveway & lake just across the road!!
$59,000 1840484

RIFLE RIVER WATEFRONT!!
3-bdrm, 1.5 bath on full walkout bsmt w/80 feet
on Rifle River!! Open floor plan, lots of windows,
newer metal roof, detached garage & covered
porch. Excellent fishing & kayaking spot!!
$149,000 1844075
1.8 ACRES!!
2 bedroom singlewide, manufactured home on partly
wooded property! Not far from all sports Long Lake
for water activities and near acres of National Forest
for the hunter!! Great weekend cabin or hunt camp!!
$20,000 1838366
10+ ACRES!!
Beautiful prop with a pond and Hale Creek
running thru! Garage & 2 outbldgs for storage.
Home has laminate & radiant heat floors, lots
of windows, beautiful views & much more!!
$279,000 1843882
LAKEFRONT LOT 10 WOODED ACRES!!
W/INSULATED POLE BARN!! Lovely 3 bedroom, 2 ba home w/garage! Great kitchen
93’ of water frontage and beautiful views on Lake Ogemaw w/island and appliances, FP in spacious living area,
plus 32x64 pole barn. Well and septic already installed, master suite w/walk-in closet and private bath. Great
camper w/elec stub out, boat dock & sandy beach area!! location near lakes & State land w/gorgeous views!!
$189,900 1844599 $129,900 1840732

FOR MORE LISTINGS

VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.CAHANES.COM
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 87
 CALL Barton City
2596 Mckinley Road, MIO, MI 48647 2596 Mckinley Road, MIO, MI 48647
84 Acres of Prime Hunting

Ausable River....182’ of mainstream front-
age...3 bedroom 2 bath with detached garage,
newer 5’’ well, blacktop driveway, River side
screened Gazebo..Located downstream from
“Comins flats’’ with Access to Federal forest.
810-724-0254
Ausable River ‘’backwaters’’ frontage...3 bed-
room 1 bath, features central air, fireplace, TO PLACE YOUR
waterside hot tub, and extensive decking lead-
ing to large dock... 30’x40’ pole building with
concrete floor and 13’+ overhead doors...
AD TODAY! 3 bdrms, 1 ½ baths, 2 car garage – 84 acres – up-
land has oak, maple, poplar – lowland has cedar,


MLS# 307709 • $164,900 MLS# 309499 • $150,000 pine, spruce, hemlock, balsam fir, tamarack.
Portion of property under shallow Sanborn Lake
Detrich Real Estate w/duck & goose hunting & pike fishing.
Mio, MI 48647 
(989)370-1955 P.O. Box 278 • 594 N. Almont Ave. • Imlay City, MI 48444
Call Barbara at 989-590-0238
email: mikeinmio@yahoo.com Phone: (810) 724-0254 • Fax: (810) 724-8552 barb@anjstatewide.com
Michael Thomson, Associate Broker Check out our website: A n J State Wide Real Estate
Open 7 days a week www.woods-n-waternews.com 430 S US 23, Harrisville, MI
N

W E

Near
3,960 ft
S

Marlette 121
in Sanilac Acres
County $350,900 Great opportunity on this 80 Acre North Branch property with
tons of possibilities, with a mix of woods, tillable acreage and
OR wetlands. Could be a perfect hunting camp with older home
$ on the property included.
Will 2,900 per acre
consider
all offers.
1,320 ft Jim Jarman
(810)223-8675
email: jimjarman@jarmansales.com.

Heritage Exclusive Marketing Agents for Northeast

House Michigan Properties
RealtyPC Located in the Heart of the Huron National Forest, on the
“Personalized Service is the Difference”
Shores of Lake Huron and the banks of the AuSable River

4950 N Lakeshore Dr
2200 sf, 3 bed, 2 bath Cape
Code with 100 feet of
gorgeous Lake Huron
Waterfront. You must see to
appreciate all this Move in
Ready Home has to offer.
$229,900 For More Info Text
R435894 to 52187

1009 Zimowske Rd, Mio

1500+ sf, 3 bed, 1.5 bath
with detached garage and
barn on 25 acres. Come see
what living up north is all
about on your new covered
One of northeast Michigan’s premier resorts located porch or covered deck with
on 300 feet of Lake Huron sugar sand beach, half this Move in Ready Gem.
$149,000
way between Oscoda and Greenbush. Includes 16
cottages with one or two bedrooms, 8 luxury beach
front suites, 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom owners or 4236 Kings Corner Rd
managers home, recreation building, onsite laundry 900 sf, 2 bed, 1 bath.
facilities, playground and paved parking. This nicely Appliances included with this
revitalized home across from
wooded site is over 463 feet deep. Great rental National Forest with carport
history with several repeat clientele. The lakefront
and large deck. $49,500.
luxury suites include deluxe furnishings and décor’ For More Information Text
similar to some of the finest Bed and Breakfast R325604 to 52187
homes. Each with their own wet bar, king size bed
and oversize whirlpool tub. Cottages feature knotty
pine interiors, full bathrooms, separate heating,
405 E Church, Harrisville
cable television, internet, and complete furnishings 1750 sf, four bed, 2 bath
right down to the silverware. Social Hall for family Victorian right in downtown
gatherings can accommodate 110 guests. This is an Harrisville. Own a piece of
history with this move in
active turn key business opportunity that only ready classic. $119,900. For
comes around once in a lifetime. Priced to sell with
More complete Information
owner financing available to qualified buyers. Text R306384 to 52187
Iosco County 480 wooded acres with 2 private lakes
and frontage on a third lake. Completely surrounded
by National forest. Just a short walk to the AuSable
River and a minutes ride to hundreds of miles of
groomed snowmobile trails. Property has a complete
trail system that provides access throughout the
heavily wooded site. Rolling terrain with high and low
land. Includes a ranch style home over a full
basement, a rustic log cabin and convenient 2 car
garage. The major expense of running electric to the
center of the property is already done. Many trophy
class whitetail deer, turkeys and bear have been
harvested from the land. Master angler blue gills and
bass are caught on a regular basis from the main lake.
This property would be ideal for the private residence,
joint venture hunting, fishing or recreation club or as
an investment for future development. Significant
marketable hardwood could help cover some of the
future cost for planned improvements. Shown by
appointment only. Priced at $1,300,000,

Call 800-650-5566 - Glennie or 800-982-0102 - Harrisville - www.HeritageHouseRealty.com

88 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS

795 N 1st St
Use your smart phone and a QR Code P.O. Box 499
Reader App to see all of our listings
Harrison MI 48625
FRNAKLIN SEC 5 120 wooded 989-539-2261
REAL ESTATE & PERSONAL PROPERTY
80 Acres w/ home & buildings * Isabella Co.
And
Undersigned, Jack Jones Trust will offer for sale the following Real Estate and will sell personal
229 Lake George Ave property at public auction on site at 6925 S. Vandecar Rd. MT. PLEASANT, MICHIGAN. 1 mile
Lake George, MI 48633 east of Winn or 11 miles west of Shepherd, Mi on Blanchard Rd. to Vandecar Rd. Turn north 1 mile
989-588-6171 to sale site. Watch for auction sale direction signs. Isabella County.

FRIDAY, MAY 25 * 10:00 AM*

hunting acres, trails, several elevated CLARE COUNTY, MICHIGAN
blinds, food plots, camp site, beaver
pond, adjoins stateland. WHERE THE NORTH BEGINS...
Open 7 Days * Established in 1953
(Real Estate sold on site at 12:00 Noon)
For Photos Text R793074 To 52187
FROST TWP, SEC 1
42.66 Acre Cornwell Rolling wooded www.harrison-realty.com
42 Acre parcel adjoining State Land
Section #3 *Fremont Twp. Section #3 *Fremont Twp.
also offers a pond, mixture of pines www.buyhr.co Isabella County
and hard woods. $84,000
For Photos Text R468692 T 52187 E-mail: office@harrison-realty.com Isabella County
GREENWOOD TWP—SEC 1
NHN Arnold Lk Rd Great corner *80 Acres land with approx. 35 tillable acres
location with a nice mix of trees, *Good productive soils
meadow, camping, future building. 9+
acres close to state land too. $27,900 *Farm NOT rented for 2018
For Photos Text R708854 To 52187 *Back 40 is woods and brush for excellent hunting
HAMILTON TWP—SEC 15
95.86 Acre Bailey Lake Avenue 95
2651 Townline Lake Road OAK 6640 E Gladwin Road 2 fishing *Creek crosses back field
HILLS Girl Scout Camp. 200 acres ponds, fruit trees, trails, 2bed/2ba
plus acres with frontage on the Cedar
with all the amenities of the camp 2 energy efficient home. 30x60 & *Road frontage on 2 sides • Rolling terrain
River. This property is rolling and
wooded with trials. $184,900
private lakes, main lodge $1,300,000 50X100 steel buildings $409,900 *Includes 2 story house w/ 3+ bedrooms
For Photos Text R716758 to 52187 For Photos Text R660736 to 52187
For Photos Text R712376 to 52187
HAYES SEC 1
*1 full bath, separate laundry room. Attached garage
17.7AC Lakepoint Hunting! Fishing! *Knotty pine interior & hardwood floors throughout
Camping! Electricity to property.
Beautiful property to build your dream
*Large kitchen/dining room • Basement
home. $65,500 *Newer well and F/A furnace
For Photos Text R412818 To 52187
HAYES TWP, SEC 25&26
*Brick and vinyl exterior
4705 Mostetler 200 acres with roads
968 THOMPSON TRAIL Hill top 2316 S Harrison Ave Hunting camp
view on 1.3 wooded acres 3bed 2bath or family retreat knotty pine, private
*Metal pole barns & outbuildings
and trails, perfect for the outdoor
*Nice hobby farm or hunting property
adventures and business opportunities.
squeaky clean Chalet pond on 78± acres. Polebarn,
For Photos Text R791578 To 52187 fireplace and covered porch. $215,000 OPEN FOR INSPECTION
$1,000,000
For Photos Text R774484 To 52187 Friday, May 11, 11am-1pm
For photos Text: T1610162 To: 52187
Please visit www.PavlikLLC.com for all AND Wednesday May 23, 11am-1pm
GREENWOOD TWP—SEC 10
NHN Finley Lake Road Secluded 40 info, pictures, maps and information. Feel free to walk & inspect the land at your convenience.
acre parcel, trails, stocked pond,22x26
cabin, wood stove, hand pump, out
house, deer blind, food plots $109,900 JACK JONES TRUST
For Photos Text R737730 To 52187
FROST SEC 23
Parcel 7 Eberhart Heavily wooded 8178 STOCKWELL 4bd , 2ba 7380 Clare Avenue Live in the woods
10.96 acre parcel around the corner from ,3300 sq. ft. attached garage,40 x 60 and work with nature. 40 acres with
Long Lake, near trails and state land. pole barn, shed. 120 acres, wooded 20 acre campgrounds. 3 bed 2 ba
Build or hunt $29,900 rolling land. $329,000 home, pole barn $225,000
For Photos Text R488719 To 52187 For Photos Text R779544 To 52187 For Photos Text P715124 To 52187 www.PavlikLLC.com

2 Bdrm cottage. Sturgeon

River frontage, snowmobile 2 Bdrm Camp. Built 2012. 160 2 Bdrm, 1 bth camp. 18 Acres. 2
trail access, Hwy 13. Nahma. Acres. Remote. Rock. Car gar with deer blinds. Ensign.
$63,900 1105794 $185,000 1104899 $49,900 1107453

THOUSANDS OF
ACRES AVAILABLE
FROM $6,900 TO $707,420. 2 Bdrm, 1 bth, Waterfront cottage. 2
2 Bdrm 1 Bth Camp. Priced Right!
Acres w/225’ on Ostrander & Corner 1 Bdrm camp. 540 Sq Ft. Blk bath
Lk. Well & septic. Private on dead house. Out house. Great hunting. 30 acres on year round Co. Rd.
Escanaba end road. Chain-of-Lakes. Wetmore. Stella Lk and Sturgeon River. Electric. Needs TLC. Hermansville.
2209 Ludington Street $139,000 1106501 $49,900 1103597 $43,900 1106933
(906) 786-1308

Powers
W3776 US 2 & 41
(906) 497-4190

Gladstone
1401 Delta Ave.
4 Bdrm, 2 bth Lodge. 640 Acres! 1 Bdrm, 1 bth waterfront home. 52 Acres. 3 Bdrm 2.5 bth Home. Full
(906) 825-9000
Mostly all high ground with Approx 1,800 of river frontage. 2,000 sq Log. 38 acres. Garage, Decks,
high timber value. LaBranche. ft gar. In-floor heat. Solar. Rapid River. Private Pave Rd. Felch.
$789,900 1101443 $194,790 1107284 $249,000 1106871
WNW NEWS JUNE 2018 89
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802 Ashman St. • Midland
989-832-1866

90 JUNE 2018 WNW NEWS

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